Behavioral addictions are curious and fascinating. We often know why people can’t stop using a substance — bodies and minds become dependent on certain chemicals — but watching someone engage in the same behavior, over and over again, continuing to accrue emotional, physical, and spiritual debt, can be maddening. In addition to sharing the DNA of a gritty, New York underground setting, the new Netflix series Black Rabbit and the Safdie Brothers’ film Uncut Gems are cut from the same stress-inducing cloth as they follow individuals with behavioral addictions (gambling and codependency) that begin to rapidly unravel the fabric of their lives.
In Black Rabbit, Jude Law and Jason Bateman play brothers with a shared traumatic past and a codependency that won’t quit. Bateman is Vince Friedken, a down-on-his-luck dirtbag with a fierce gambling addiction who flits from place to place, scraping by on his wits and his charm. Law is Jake Friedken, Vince’s charismatic and ambitious younger brother who stayed in their home town of Brooklyn to make good as the owner and manager of a chic hot spot restaurant called the Black Rabbit. (Hey, that’s the name of this show!)
Black Rabbit also happens to be the name of the band that Vince and Jake started when they were young adults. As the narrative unfolds, we see that Jake has always been eager to follow Vince’s whims and, more often than not, his dependence on his ne’er-do-well brother gets him into serious trouble. As Vince returns to town and faces a six-figure gambling debt held by a terrifying gangster (Troy Kotsur, in an affecting performance), Jake gets pulled into the drama. And, as we follow the trials and tribulations of these two men as they navigate the lawless backrooms of Brooklyn, digging themselves in ever deeper, it’s impossible not to draw comparisons to Uncut Gems.
