A frenzied Adam Sandler in 'Uncut Gems'

The crazy world of a New York jewelry salesman -- and gambler.

Desperate and out-of-control, Howie Ratner -- the main character in Uncut Gems -- still manages to retain sparks of hope. He can't allow himself not to believe in the future. A long-shot basketball bet will pay off. The relationship with the woman he keeps in a Manhattan apartment won’t go haywire. At the same time, he’ll be able to maintain his Long Island family life.

Most of all, the raw opal Howie illegally purchased from Ethiopia will be the big one, the score that allows him to eliminate his gambling debts and find something resembling security.

But wait. I misspoke. Howie isn't interested in security. He's interested in wheeling and dealing. He wants to be a rainmaker and he tries to capitalize on anyone who holds promise, say an NBA star -- Kevin Garnett as himself -- who visits Howie’s Manhattan shop. Garnett falls in love with the opal, which Howie plans to sell at auction.

Suddenly, there’s another ball to juggle. How can Howie keep Garnett on the hook and also deliver the diamond to the auction house at a previously agreed upon time?

That's a plateful of story and the movie’s directors — the Safdie brothers (Josh and Benny) — needed the right actor to keep its wheels spinning. Turns out the right actor is Adam Sandler. Equipped with slightly protruding teeth and wearing a leather jacket, Sandler's Howie speeds through life like a man trying to skate across dangerously thin ice. He's loud and abrasive and it's not easy being around him. That's where Sandler's ability to transmit rays of hope proves useful.

We don't want to get too near to Howie, but we also can't look away. Maybe he's even dislikable enough for us to hope that he crashes. Is that the payoff we want from the movie or do we want to see Howie navigate dangerous waters and emerge whole?

The Safdies also introduce us to some of Howie’s unseemly associates, which include some very mean men to whom Howie owes a great deal of money. The movie could have been called Howie’s World.

Filming in free-wheeling style and making maximum use of New York City locations, the Safdies allow Howie's mix of anxiety and ambition to drive the story, offering some unexpected developments along the way. Far from being a bimbo, his mistress (Julia Fox) actually cares about Howie. Who’d have thought?

We also meet Howie's wife (Idina Menzel), a woman who long ago ran out of patience with her husband. Judd Hirsch portrays Howie's dad, offering a glimpse of the what could be read as the origin of Howie’s personality.

All of this takes place under the sharp eye of Darius Khondji's restless camera, which adds to the frenzy. The Sadies virtually dare us to keep pace.

Proceed at your own risk, but if you choose to stay home, you'll miss a movie about the latest in a long line of characters who dare to dream big -- even if they don't always have what it takes to make those dreams come true,.

Charms, yes, but the original had more kick

Best thing about Frozen II: The creativity of its animators.

Two sisters -- Kristen Bell's Anna and Idina Menzel's Elsa -- reunite in Disney's Frozen II, a sequel to the 2013 smash that also spawned a Broadway show. Familiarity no doubt will breed success for this sequel directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, who also directed the first installment. Set three years after the conclusion of the earlier movie, Frozen II reintroduces us to the kingdom of Arendelle, where Elsa presides and Anna plays the annoying (but endearing) younger sister. And, yes, there are songs, which some will find memorable but which are of a kind that, for me, tended to evaporate from consciousness a few seconds after they concluded. Songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have added seven new songs to the mix, the most notable being of them entitled Into the Unknown. A fairy-tale plot centers on a voice that's calling to Elsa from deep within an enchanted forest where the Northuldra people reside and where Elsa eventually will discover massive rock creatures that stomp heavily into (or on) the plot. The movie brings back other characters from the first edition, most notably the snowman Olaf (Josh Gad) and Anna's handsome but clueless boyfriend Kristoff (Jonathan Groff). Olaf still provides the comic relief, this time with a song called When I'm Older. Elsa, you'll recall, has powers that exceed those of the other characters. She can turn things to ice, which makes me wonder why Disney doesn’t send her to the Arctic to work on the world’s melting glaciers. It's up to Elsa to help settle a long-standing dispute between Arendelle and the inhabitants of the forest. For me, the best part of Frozen II involved fanciful animated sequences. The movie also hits the now-requisite female empowerment themes. I thought the original had a little more kick, but as franchise sequels go, audiences could do worse. Still, I feel obligated to provide a small warning: If you're allergic to Disney-style enchantment, you may want to chill somewhere other than Frozen II. Of course, you'll probably find yourself in a distinct minority.

Engery thaws Disney's 'Frozen'

It may not be a classic, but this animated feature offers the season's most kid-friendly entertainment.

Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen, Frozen -- the latest 3-D animated feature from Disney -- boasts obligatory splashes of humor, aggressively showy musical numbers and good voice work, all abetted by impressive visuals and the trendy theme of female empowerment.

Although it falls short of Disney's best, Frozen should generate plenty of PG enthusiasm in a season otherwise lacking in entertainment for kids.

The story involves Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel), a blonde beauty whose magic touch turns everything to ice. To protect her adoring younger sister Anna (Kristen Bell) from being turned into a frozen ice statue, Queen Elsa retreats to a palace that's far removed from the kingdom of Arendelle -- but not before encasing the whole country in the perpetual frost of an endless winter.

Bell's Anna, who's being pursued by a handsome prince (Santino Fontana), refuses to accept her sister's rejection.

With help from the hardy Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and his trusty reindeer Sven, Anna sets out to find her sister and persuade her to return to her throne. A reindeer named Sven? Yeah, I liked that, too.

Surely, there's a way for the two sisters to reunite so that Elsa can rule without converting her kingdom into a year-round ice rink.

Every animated feature needs a cute comic character: In Frozen, that duty falls to a snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad), who adds a bit of humor. Olaf faces an inherently existential problem: He longs to see summer, the season would spell his quick demise.

Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, Frozen makes room for friendly trolls, as well as a bit of action. And only the most sensitive of youngsters will be traumatized by a hulking snow monster that defends the queen's ice palace.

The movie's musical numbers were written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and, like Frozen, they can be a little heavier on energy than enchantment.

If you're looking for resonance and fairy-tale subtext, you'll have to search elsewhere. Frozen's pleasures are pretty much on the surface. But that's no reason to discount kick the that you probably will find.