“Good Time” (2017); Rated R
After their botched bank robbery, Connie Nikas (Robert Pattinson) goes on a 24-hour escapade to free his intellectually disabled brother from Rikers Island.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVyGCxHZ_Ko
“Uncut Gems” (2019); Rated R
Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a jewelry dealer in New York’s Diamond District, scrambles to square his compulsive gambling with his estranged family, his debt collectors and his own well-being.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTfJp2Ts9X8

I first saw “Good Time” in 2019, just before the Uncut Gems trailer dropped on YouTube later that year. The Safdie Brothers have many other directing, writing and acting credits—Heaven Knows What, Lenny Cooke, Daddy Longlegs, The Pleasure of Being Robbed—as well as some goofy YouTube shorts and street pranks. That said, I recommend you watch these two genre-defining crime thrillers, and I recommend you watch them back-to-back.
Both “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems” have unforgettable lead performances. Both pair synthwave jazz with tight camerawork to create frenetic viewing experiences. Both complement one another’s ideas and themes about institutions and individuals; wealth and poverty; kindness and cruelty.
Robert Pattinson is one of the best actors working today—I mean, who else could have brought such life to the role of Edward Cullen? But for real, outdated “Twilight” jokes aside, just watch “The Devil All the Time,” “Tenet,” “The Lighthouse,” “High Life” and, especially, “Good Time.”
Pattinson’s Connie Nikas is capable no matter the problem; it is no coincidence his full first name is Constantine, meaning “steadfast” in Latin. Yet do not confuse his competency for goodness. Throughout “Good Time,” Connie lies, steals, manipulates people and ditches them as soon as they wear out their usefulness. Yet, though not redeeming of his villainy, Connie unshakably loves his brother Nick (Benny Safdie) and dedicates his cunning to bailing Nick out of Rikers. While Safdie’s Nick deserves credit—I was brought to tears during his opening scene—it is Connie’s reflexive capacity to both give kindness and take advantage of others’ kindness that makes for some beautiful movie moments.
Adam Sandler, and his colon, glisten in “Uncut Gems” as Howard Ratner. His character can be summed up by Sandler’s lines; picture him beat-up and crying: “I don’t know what to do…Everything I do is not goin’ right…I gotta figure this out.” Throughout the movie, Howard is juggling ten different bets, debts, pawns, scams and relationships at once. Like battling a hydra, Howard’s actions and inactions only beget more problems. Compared to Connie, when Howard lies, he’s unconvincing; when he cheats, he’s caught; when he tries to get people to do what he wants, they don’t; and when he’s violent, he’s outmatched. Regardless of the problems after problems, Sandler’s performance excites in the audience his character’s rush over the thought, “Just one more bet, this is the one, I can feel it,” is likely to excite the audience.
The contrast between Howard and Connie illustrates how Connie’s antagonisms are mainly external—the bail-bond system, law enforcement, institutional red tape—whereas Howard’s are mainly internal—insecurity, addictive tendencies, incompetency. Yet, both of these antagonisms bring the characters into stress and precarity with which the audience can empathize: the one wrong move, the slip-up.
Engrossing you into Connie’s and Howard’s exploits at break-neck pace, the Safdie Brothers will get you to root for the characters, even if you keep in mind the terrible and ridiculous things the characters do. I will be looking for the Safdies’ future projects. Until then, let me know what you think of “Good Time,” “Uncut Gems” and the Safdie Brothers. My reading of the movies is one of many. For ratings, here are mine: for “Uncut Gems,” 480 out of 600 carats of an Ethiopian, black-opal gemstone; for “Good Time,” 8000 out of 10000 dye-pack-ruined dollars.