The movie Brad Pitt called phenomenal: “It gave me so much anxiety”
As well as being one of the biggest stars of the modern era, Brad Pitt has evolved into a powerhouse producer in his own right, backing a number of films that found massive success without even being drafted in to star in them.
It was Pitt who first set The Departed into motion when his production company optioned the rights to remake Hong Kong classic Infernal Affairs and tasked William Monahan to pen what would end up as an Academy Award-winning screenplay in a ‘Best Picture’-winning movie.
His other producing or executive producing credits where he doesn’t appear on-screen include Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass, Ava DuVernay’s Selma, Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, Bong Joon-ho’s Okja, Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari, and even Tim Burton’s sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, so he’s clearly got a keen and eclectic eye away from the bright lights of being on set.
He may not have been personally involved, but Pitt was still left enthralled by the nerve-shredding tension that defined every single minute of Josh and Benny Safdie’s riveting crime thriller Uncut Gems, anchored by a career-best performance from Adam Sandler as gambling-addicted jeweller Howard Ratner.
After making a high-stakes bet that could either make him a very rich man or leave him dead, Ratner gets drawn into a spiralling situation of his own making that finds him increasingly backed into a corner, with the walls closing in from all sides as his risky gambit continually threatens to blow up in his face.
A masterclass in exacting the maximum amount of tension from every single scene, Sandler offered a timely reminder to the world that he’s a hell of a dramatic powerhouse when he ditches the loveable goofball shtick in favour of getting serious. Pitt even admitted he was blown away by the “phenomenal” film.
“I had such anxiety watching it,” he said to Sandler when they interviewed each other for Variety. “Though it looked like a ball to make, except for the panic scenes.” The two-time Oscar winner would compliment the “very kinetic” style the Safdie brothers brought to the fore, but even at that, he couldn’t find himself being able to relax for so much as a single second.
“Watching it, I was so anxious,” Pitt continued, a sentiment shared by everyone who watched Uncut Gems and found themselves becoming in serious danger of suffering serious heart palpitations. The combination of Sandler’s sweaty, anxious, and formidable turn against the gradually tightening tension creates an exhausting experience that leaves the audience barely able to breathe.
There aren’t many films in recent years to possess anywhere near as much latent dread as Uncut Gems, with Pitt just one of many left shaken to the core by an incredible picture.