Now available to view on Netflix worldwide, Uncut Gems boasts what many critics have labelled as the best performance of Adam Sandler's career.
It's a rare step away from the sort of broad comedy movies Sandler is known for, with the actor playing Howard Ratner, a New York diamond merchant who finds himself in trouble when the rare Ethiopian opal diamond he was hoping would solve all his financial worries falls out of his hands.
Ratner makes the mistake of showing off the diamond to basketballer Kevin Garnett (the athlete playing himself in a striking turn), who insists that he hold onto it until after a key playoff match, believing the stone will bring him luck. Ratner needs to take the gem to auction, but struggles to track down Garnett. To make things worse, his money-lending brother-in-law, Arno (Eric Bogosian), has brought in a pair of violent thugs to collect the thousands Ratner owes him.
In a nerve-wracking climax, Arno and his goons turn up at Ratner's workplace, expecting to be paid. This shouldn't be a problem, as Ratner has raised the money by selling the gem to Garnett. However, Ratner takes a calculated risk. Instead of paying the money to Arno, he gives it to his girlfriend (Julia Fox) and sends her off by helicopter to the Mohegan Sun Casino, ordering her to put the whole fortune on an elaborate bet revolving around a basketball game Garnett is playing in that evening.
So confident is Ratner that the opal will bring luck to Garnett, he locks Arno and his thugs in the doorway to his office while the basketball game plays out, much to their annoyance. As we watch the game unfold, we share Ratner's nerves, knowing if it doesn't work out he's in big trouble.
It's an incredible scene, but there's just one problem with it - it simply couldn't happen. The Mohegan Sun Casino is located in Connecticut, a state where sports betting is still illegal. While visitors to the Mohegan could enjoy gambling on roulette, card games etc, to bet on basketball they would have to go online to a website like Agen SBOBET, where they could freely place bets on a variety of sports.
Of course, this inaccuracy doesn't in any way detract from what a rollercoaster ride of a movie Uncut Gems is. Sandler really does deliver a knockout performance, and was awarded at the Independent Spirit Awards, even though the Oscars overlooked his work. Check out Uncut Gems on Netflix now.