Released in 2019, but set in 2012, Uncut Gems is a crime thriller directed by the Safdie brothers, Benny and Josh, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bronstein. Adam Sandler stars as the tragic hero, Howard Ratner, a fast-talking Jewish-American jeweller and compulsive gambler. Ratner is the proprietor of KMH, a jewellery store in the Diamond District of Midtown Manhattan, which sells rare, expensive precious stones.

Nevertheless, Ratner is indebted to his brother-in-law Arno Moradian (Eric Bogosian) to the tune of $100,000, but seeks to repay that debt, and others, by smuggling a rare, uncut black opal into the country from Ethiopia. Ratner expects the opal to fetch $1,000,000 at auction but, on its arrival, it takes the eye of Boston Celtics’ basketball star Kevin Garnett (himself). Garnett considers the opal a lucky talisman and, offering his NBA Championship Ring as collateral, insists on keeping it for his upcoming basketball match.

Ratner immediately pawns the ring and places a bet on the aforementioned match, which would have won $600,000, but for being stopped by Moradian, who takes exception to Ratner gambling with what is, effectively, his money. After further tribulations, Ratner retrieves the opal and takes it to auction, only for his father-in-law, Gooey (Judd Kirsch), who he persuades to bid up the price, to place the winning bid.

Ratner finally offloads the opal to Garnett for $165,000 in cash but, instead of paying his debts, asks his girlfriend, Julia De Fiore (Julia Fox), to place a further bet on a Celtics’ basketball match. She narrowly escapes the clutches of Moradian and his henchmen, Phil (Keith William Richards) and Nico (Tommy Kominik), whom Ratner imprisons between the security doors at KMH. The bet wins, earning Ratner $1.2 million but, when he releases his prisoners, Phil shoots him in the head, killing him instantly.

Released in 1961, to critical acclaim, The Hustler is a drama based on the 1959 novel of the same name written by Walter Tevis. Filmed on location in NewYork City and directed by Robert Rossen, The Hustler stars Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott and Piper Laurie.

‘Fast’ Eddie Felson (Newman), is a minor-league pool hustler, who travels the country with his equally immoral manager Charlie Burns ( Myron McCormick), but seeks to abandon his anonymity by challenging the legendary Minnesota Fats (Gleason). After boasting that he will win $10,000 from Fats, he is $1,000 ahead when he suggests raising the stakes and requests Preacher (Stefan Gierasch) to fetch him some bourbon. Preacher also notifies Fats’ backer, Bert Gordon (Scott), a cold, vicious gambler, who nonetheless quietly pays out as Felson keeps on winning.

However, having been $18,000 ahead at one stage, Felson conspires to lose all bar $200. Thereafter, Felson starts a relationship with Sarah Packard (Laurie), a vulnerable, crippled girl, whom he later discards with tragic consequences. Indeed, in the final scenes, he tells Gordon, ‘I loved her, Bert. I traded her in on a pool game.’

Felson returns to New York to face Minnesota Fats for a second time and wins easily. He tells Fats, ‘Fat man, you shoot a great game of pool’, and Fats replies, ‘So do you, Fast Eddie’. By now his manager, Gordon requests his 75% cut of his winnings and, when Felson refuses, begrudgingly agrees, but warns him never to set foot in a pool hall in the city again.

The late Robert of the Chicago-Sun Times wrote, ‘The Hustler is one of those films where scenes have such psychic weight that they grow in our memories.’ His sentiment was reflected by the fact that all four leading actors, Newman, Gleason, Scott and Laurie, received Academy Award nominations.