10 Movies That Influenced Uncut Gems (Coming Soon To Netflix)

In 2019, no film received more of an outpouring in the face of complete exemption from The Academy’s nominating committee than Josh and Benny Safdie’s Uncut Gems. The brother filmmaking duo, whose film Good Time helped Twilight alum Robert Pattinson gain the credit he needed to be cast as the next Batman, followed up their 2017 sleeper by plunging back into the city they have made their playground.

The following are mostly New York-set films that shaped how the Safdies create cinema and which will adequately prepare those waiting for Uncut Gems to hit Netflix US on May 25.

10 King Of New York (1990)

Sometimes, all it takes to change the game is a main character who refuses to be the good guy under any circumstance.

Out on parole in Abel Ferrara’s cult love letter to New York’s criminal underbelly, Christopher Walken’s Frank White is on his worst behavior as he looks to reclaim his hold over the city that never sleeps. Clearly an inspiration for the Safdie Brothers’ most noted works: Good Time, and, of course, Uncut Gems. Two films which, like King of New York, rely on a charismatic bad guy to carry the plot home.

9 The Exorcist (1973)

The late Max von Sydow’s priest character in the iconic horror adaptation is introduced to us right off the bat while in the midst of an archaeological dig in the ancient Iraq city of Hatra. There, he finds the amulet that stirs the demon-expulsing picture into motion.

Those who think this may resemble the opening sequence of Uncut Gems, which Justin Jones at Comic Book Resource said was like “living someone else’s nightmare,” need not reduce this to mere coincidence; the Safdie Brothers are proud champions of William Friedkin’s filmography, especially The Exorcist. As evidenced by Uncuts Gems‘ Africa-set teaser which featured miners who dug until they struck what would become the black opal at the heart of an otherwise New York-exclusive film.

8 My Cousin Vinny (1992)

Like the crime movies that inspired the Safdies’, the genre tends to appeal to the macho-male demographic before any else. While this may be enough to get a picture-of-the-like made, the best in-store will tend to develop strong woman characters who help the film transcend as one capable of reaching even more audiences.

In this regard, one can only think of Marisa Tomei’s Oscar-winning turn in My Cousin Vinny as the end-all-be-all example to follow. Her role as the foul-mouthed, high-tempered love interest to Joe Pesci’s titular in-over-his-head quasi-lawyer only grew multi-dimensionally as the narrative tension reached its apex. Tomei fared uproariously funny and ultra-seductive in her breakout role, paving the way for future newcomers like Uncut Gems‘ Julia Fox to follow suit with equal vigor.

7 Big Daddy (1999)

The brothers’ adoration for Adam Sandler’s heartfelt 1999 comedy is no secret. So, after landing the man who reportedly turned them down initially, one could determine they used the opportunity to stage some parallels between their first collaboration with Sandler and the work of his that most defined their youth.

Both films feature Sandler as a man engaged in several nefarious activities who needs to grow up fast for his own survival. Moreover, each features Sandler as a father figure who encourages his sons to do whatever makes them happy, regardless of the moral implications (e.g. bonding over betting on basketball games with Eddie in Uncut Gems; throwing sticks at incoming skaters with Julian / “Frankenstein” in Big Daddy).

6 The King of Comedy (1982)

Obsessive to the point of mania, both Robert DeNiro’s Rupert Pupkin and Sandler’s Howard Ratner rattle out punchline after punchline to prevent others from recognizing the despair stirring within them.

Of course, anyone with eyes can deduce the problematic character faults oozing out of both overly charismatic New Yorkers at all moments. The King of Comedy is not the only Scorsese film deliberately immortalized within the inner fabric of Uncut Gems. In fact, the Safdie’s even procured for Sandler a fake mole, a clear nod to their executive producer’s collaborations with young DeNiro. However, with a protagonist who equally failed to realize the magnitude of the crimes he committed while wrapped up in his own delusions, none proved more fitting to include.

5 Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Midway through Uncut Gems, audiences redeem the promise made by the film’s popular preview trailer: Sandler-as-Howard’s showdown with The Weeknd. When they are not sprawling during the artist’s blacklight-heavy club performance, the vibes evoke another major iconographic influence over the Safdies’ work.

Saturday Night Fever captured to a tee the 70s disco movement and the impact it had on the five boroughs served as a template for filmmakers like the Safdies to follow. No one can dispute they did just the same with Uncut Gems, as The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar’s’s tracks heard scoring the club scene take audiences back to the dawn-of-the-Instagram age days of 2012 they did not know they missed.

4 There Will Be Blood (2007)

Hailed by many as acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece, the film, loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s “Oil!,” dissects man’s surrender to that which fulfills the ground below in the hopes of eternal fortune.

Uncut Gems supplants oil for “the rock.” Any character who comes across either object in both films viscerally feels the magic it casts if its powers are believed in enough by the beholder. Since the Safdies are friendly with their one-time idol in Anderson—who also showcased Sandler’s dramatic chops on the silver screen with 2002’s Punch-Drunk Love—it would not be a stretch to ascertain the brothers also looked to There Will Be Blood as a creative well to drill from.

3 Lenny (1974)

Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of the king-of-controversy Lenny Bruce in Bob Fosse’s 1974 biopic pulled no punches. He dove deep into the rage behind each dirty word and expletive-laden allegory he uttered as public demands for free speech and expression.

By the time Uncut Gems rolled out in 2019, excessive swearing had become so normalized in the movies that it made it rather difficult for any film to stand out vulgarity-wise. But the Safdies managed to do just, with their film now ranking 7th all-time with over 400 F-bombs dropped, according to Entertainment Weekly. The least the Safdies could do to thank Bruce for opening the floodgates was model one of their posters after the same tasked to market the Oscar-nominated documentation of his life.

2 The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)

While playing it with more subdued mania a la Jeremy Strong in Succession, Ben Gazzara’s degenerate-and-indebted gambling addict, Cosmo Vitelli, aches all the same as Uncut Gems‘ Howie Bling.

One read of the back of the crime thriller’s old VHS tape or DVD box tells one all they need to know about how much the film shares in common with the admitted Cassavetes disciples’ latest film. Where Sandler externalizes his impulsive character’s agony, Gazzara internalizes while roaming through life in quicksand. Despite the differences in how they process their issues, both find themselves regretting their propensity to downplay what having a constant presence of debt-collectors after them entails.

1 Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

The beauty in a well-crafted story is convincing audiences to identify with someone they may disregard in reality. Especially criminals, who have sympathetic trails built in from the get when they are introduced as the main character.

Sydney Lumet’s 1975 film further solidified Al Pacino’s staying power off the backs of his two Godfather performances. Exhausted and restless-by-design, Pacino’s Sonny barked “Attica! Attica!” at impeding officers while gaining the trust of those he originally intended to hold captive. He built a fantasy world within the bubble of the bank he is robbing that, like Howard’s diamond district dealings in Uncut Gems, play out in ways made to make the viewer forget what consequences await those who brush with the wrong forces at the wrong time.

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