Uncut Gems, the latest film from the Safdie brothers, landed on Netflix at the end of January to glowing reviews. The story follows Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a New York jeweller whose risky bets on blood diamonds and basketball matches spiral into chaos. While the narrative is entirely fictional, the film blurs reality and fiction in intriguing ways.
The Manhattan diamond district serves as the setting, a world the Safdies know well from their father’s time as a runner there. His job involved shuttling precious stones between wholesalers and jewellers, often making him a target for robbers. The brothers drew on his experiences and the district’s unique energy to craft the film’s tense atmosphere.
Much of the cast adds to the realism. NBA star Kevin Garnett appears as himself, and the basketball games depicted are real play-off matches from 2012. The Safdies chose to use actual footage rather than filming fake games, tailoring the plot to fit real events. Other real-life figures, including The Weeknd and rapper Ca$h Out, also appear as themselves.
The film’s Jewish culture is another authentic layer, drawn from the Safdies’ own upbringing. Howard’s Passover dinner scene highlights this, though his faith often remains a background element. Despite the blend of reality and fiction, the story of Howard Ratner is purely invented—the Safdies have stressed that the real-life Howard their father worked with was nothing like his on-screen counterpart.
