‘Uncut Gems’ review: Adam Sandler is brilliant

There is no more shocking an Oscar contender than Adam Sandler.

You’re not dreaming. Billy Madison, Mr. Deeds, Happy Gilmore, Robbie Hart and the guy that sang “The Hanukkah Song” is doing the finest work of his career in “Uncut Gems,” a new crime comedy co-written and directed by Joshua and Benny Safdie. Pigs have flown, for Sandler is brilliant.

This is not a “Who’s that guy?” dramatic shift that funnymen often make in more serious films, such as Robin Williams as a bald creep in “One Hour Photo” or Jim Carrey as a cop in “Dark Crimes.” It’s simply that Sandler has finally found material suited to his prodigious talents that’s actually good — as a sleazebag New York diamond dealer whose life is one big, bad decision.

His name is Howard, and he’s as ethical as a Chicago mayor. Loud, sweaty and obnoxious, he sells diamonds at high prices at his Midtown shop, often to major celebs such retired basketball star Kevin Garnett. One day in 2012, Howard receives a shipment from Africa: a rare, rainbow-hued opal he believes is worth millions.

There is a certain magic to the rock. When Garnett stares into the shimmering stone, he’s transfixed. The Boston Celtics star needs to have the enchanting item, so Howard trades the opal for Garnett’s championship ring, temporarily, until the basketball player can win the gem when it’s on the auction block.

That’s too easy, though. Like many a foul-mouthed, corrupt jerk before him, Howard owes a lot of people a lot of money. Looking to pay off his debts — and not get killed — he pawns off Garnett’s ring and bets with the money in hopes of getting the bling back with cash to spare.

The directors and Sandler really floor it through all of these events with a thriller’s tension — speaking at breakneck speed and dispensing swears like Skittles. But there is aplomb amid the F-bombs and wit beneath the “s – – t.” The script is very smart and the perfect length, and every single character is textured and memorable, especially the women.

Idina Menzel plays Howard’s suffering wife, Dinah, who holds down the fort at the family’s Long Island home, while Howard is off having sex with his young assistant, Julia (Julia Fox), in his New York not-quite-a-bachelor pad. Both ladies are delightfully abrasive. There’s a quiet moment in which an irritated Menzel looks into Sandler’s eyes that puts the audience in stitches. And another heart-stopping — but hysterical — scene sees two thugs follow Howard into his kid’s middle-school play. Fox’s Julia even almost hooks up with the Weeknd in a nightclub bathroom, causing an epic drunken couple tiff. Through all the madness, the film has a gritty, florescent look that contrasts with the hilarity.

It’s an understatement to say there’s a lot going on, but it goes together like a strong Long Island Iced Tea.

And then there’s Sandler’s Howard, a superb comedic creation on par with George Costanza or Oscar Madison. When the actor focuses his near-nuclear supply of energy, as he does here, it’s an incredible sight. Kudos to him for putting his still-considerable weight in Hollywood behind adventurous projects like “Uncut Gems” instead of, you know, “Little Nicky.”

In 2019, the Waterboy has become a man.