Two billion of us have an Instagram account. Just over a quarter of the world’s population upload content, communicate with potentially vast social networks, and even run businesses from that little pinky-colored Polaroid icon. Aside from 99.9% of our genetic makeup, and our presence on the Zuckerberg-owned application, the other similarity we all share is, at some point or another, that we’ve been tapped up via message by so-called “FX Traders” and self-proclaimed crypto-experts.

While some are simply part of an elaborate, often fraudulent pyramid scheme and others attempt to use us as pawns to further their wealth, they all speak to our inherent yearning for potentially increasing our personal affluence exponentially. These bedroom stock tradesmen, the ones who pose with their “Made in China” Rolex, the Lamborghini they’ve leased for the day, and a singular private jet flight they’ve taken out 15 payday loans for all in the name of “aspirational living," these are the modern-day flag-bearers for capitalism.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

The pressure to “get rich quick,” and by any means possible, is to the detriment of today’s society. Personalized adverts telling us what we need, when we need it, and how we are going to get it, holding our material prosperity above all else — Karl Marx’s worst nightmare. In the Safdie Brothers’ 2019 drama Uncut Gems, these capitalist propensities are at the film’s very fore, embodied by the titular character, Howard Ratner (an incredible Adam Sandler).

The Stressful Uncut Gems Ups the Antes Set By Good Time

     A24

Intentionally set against the backdrop of the early 2010s prior to the cryptocurrency boom and the clamor for NFTs, Uncut Gems is more of a purist’s view on capitalism. The rapid, anxiety-inducing heartbeat of the film neither allows for respite, nor for the catching of breath. “Howie” is a Jewish New Yorker, jeweler, and gambling addict, and the walking, talking encapsulation of “another day, another dollar.”

Driven by an insatiable appetite for financial gain, his relentless pursuit of adding noughts to his bank account is a stark reminder of the pitfalls of such an “in-it-for-yourself” economic structure. Jut as they did with 2017’s Good Time, the Safdies capture Howie’s relentless pursuit of profit in such a way that its lucidity and deafeningly cacophonous ring make it such a stressful, blood pressure-heightening watch that is unmissable and simultaneously unwatchable.

How Uncut Gems Gives a Good Economic Overview

     A24 

Attempting to settle enormous debts while providing for an expectant family, an estranged wife, and a demanding mistress, keeping everyone in their relative states of luxury is an exhausting concept for Howard. Additionally, he has to juggle these stressors as the threat of deeply unpleasant characters of the criminal underworld seek imminent recompense. Howard is stuck in this perpetual merry-go-round of robbing Peter to pay Paul, using various business partners’ assets as collateral in order to settle debts that are more historic.

This is how Uncut Gems exposes the instability of capitalism, and in particular, Howard Ratner’s flawed, shallow version of it. Howie is a victim of commodification and the Marxist term “Commodity Fetishism,” an idea that society essentially gifts inanimate objects a heightened, quasi-spiritual essence, which in turn, sees people and these objects form relationships. In the instance of Howard and Kevin Garnett, the pair both form this dependence on a black opal and its apparent powers (and immense value).

Garnett is bewitched by the sight of it, believing that its value lies with how he performs on the basketball court, somehow possessing this mystical power that allows him to contribute to games beyond his physical capabilities. Being a financially motivated individual, Howard sees the rarity of the opal as the answer to his economic woes and eye-watering debt. Sell it, and he’s not only free of the debtor’s burden placed over him, but he is automatically a rich man.

Adam Sandler’s Howie Personifies the Tragedies of Capitalism

Ostensibly, Ratner is a capitalist benefactor; he cashes in from a system of renowned exploitation (highlighted by the blood diamond and jewelry trade at the beginning of the film). His business and gambling addiction is built purely on the need to line his pockets and fund a life of style and comfort. However, for every winner, there has to be a loser, none more so than in the ideological prism/prison of capitalism, a system founded on the very premise of winning and losing, and capitalizing on the misfortune of others.

This is a movie about the rabbit and the dangling carrot. Every so often the controlling party pays out, but ultimately, Howard is incapable of taking heed from his consistent financial mismanagement and delusional perspective that he can truly win in this system without hurting anyone. He inadvertently personifies rapper 50 Cent’s lyrical advice, “Get Rich or Die Tryin.’” Uncut Gems is a lesson in the fundamental greed of capitalism — the money-making cycle never stops, and Howard is the walking representation of that. His mind continuously ticks as, one by one, his chickens come home to roost, and he has to resort to increasingly extreme means to keep his troubles at bay. Capitalism is fueled by the rich getting richer, and by the unrelenting hunger to accumulate more. This will end in tears.