Uncut Gems

"Bling is, honestly, a pretty classic Sandler character—prone to yelling, childish breakdowns, and sporting a young girlfriend who could really, really do better. But it’s a testament to his strength as an actor that when he commits to a dramatic role—as he’s done for directors like Paul Thomas Anderson and Noah Baumbach in the past—he truly inhabits it. Bling feels like a real person, and it’s infectiously good fun to join him on numerous harebrained adventures, despite his numerous flaws."

"It doesn't seem to add up to much - a little man lives his life - but this is just enough."

"Sandler somehow manages to make him both totally exasperating and oddly magnetic—we watch his foolhardy flirtation with ruin in a state of shocked disbelief that borders on admiration. It’s a performance as live-wire exciting as the one the Safdies got out of Robert Pattinson in Good Time. And the movie itself is exhilarating. Just bring a Xanax."

"It’s practically a cinematic panic attack, feverishly sustained over more than two hours by two directors who never fail to get under the skin."

"It’s a remarkable match-up between film-makers and actor and reaffirms the importance of that partnership, especially for a movie star stuck in a profitable rut. Sandler deserves more, and if he wants us to keep watching, then so do we."

"Uncut Gems feels like being locked inside the pinwheeling brain of a lunatic for more than two hours — and guess what: It’s a gas!"

"Many will agree that this is Sandler’s best performance, and the Safdies will finally move from the fringes of the commercial film scene to somewhere closer to the center."

"If Uncut Gems leaves people rattled, disoriented, grasping for clarity in the chaos of one man’s hectic routine, that all speaks to the sheer precision of a visionary achievement in full control."