Canadian singer-songwriter The Weeknd is set to make his big screen debut in the Safdie Brothers’ new film Uncut Gems, alongside Adam Sandler. The R&B artist confirmed on Twitter that he will be starring in the film – even if there were a few bemused fans in his replies who were disappointed that he wasn’t announcing a new album.
Although not much has been revealed in regard to the plot of the film, TIFF’s synopsis describes Josh and Benny Safdie’s film as “an electrifying crime thriller about Howard Ratner (Sandler), a charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score. When he makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime, Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides, in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.”
While a crime thriller starring Adam Sandler may sound like the start of Saturday Night Live sketch, the comedy actor has proven he can produce unexpected performances, like in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2002 film Punch Drunk Love and Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories in 2017.
The film also sees the return of the Safdie Brothers, who are fresh off the back of the success of their acclaimed 2017 release, Good Time. Fans of the brothers’ previous work will be glad to hear that Uncut Gems has been described as “probably the most Safdie movie you’ve ever seen” by TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey in an interview with IndieWire.
Revisit our previous interview with the Safdie Brothers here.
