An older man down on his luck. A kid from the wrong side of the tracks with a checkered past trying to make good. The power of a good coach to make a difference. These are the hoariest of sports movie clichés. Hustle presents them to us again, but in a palatable package.
The older man here is Stanley Sugerman (Adam Sandler), an international scout for the Philadelphia 76ers who has been floating around the outskirts of the NBA for decades. It is made known early on that Stanley had a promising career as a player or coach ahead of him, but that something derailed those plans. Stanley is still around because his boss, team owner Rex Merrick (Robert Duvall) trusts him and believes in him. He is in fact, in the process of being promoted to assistant coach when Rex dies, and his spoiled son Vince (Ben Foster) takes over the team. Vince sends Stanley back out on road. It’s there that Stanley meets Bo Cruz (real-life NBA player Juancho Hernangomez), a streetball superstar who hustles basketball while working a day job in construction to provide for his mother and young daughter.
Stanley is blown away by Bo’s raw talent and wants to bring him to the NBA. Vince disagrees, so Stanley works his years of connections to try to get Bo a spot in the NBA combine. To keep spirits high, Stanley hides the fact that he is paying all of Bo’s expenses from Bo himself and also from his wife Teresa (Queen Latifah). When Bo runs up against top prospect Kermit Wilts (played by NBA player Anthony Edwards), he is shaken, allowing Kermit to get into his head.
The next section of the film is essentially a long training montage, as we see Bo improve his physical and mental game while his relationship with Stanley grows. The men have troubled pasts and broken dreams in common and an almost parental bond forms between them.
The performances, particularly from Sandler, are the best part of the film. Stanley is right in the sweet spot for a melding of Sandler’s comedic and dramatic strengths. As has been seen as far back as Big Daddy and more recently in the Grown Ups and Hotel Transylvania movies, Sandler has great dad energy. There is a warmth and vulnerability to him at his best that is very winning. There’s still also enough of an edge to him that the sarcasm and anger he shows at times feel legitimate. This is Hernangomez’s first film, and he’s given quite a bit to do. He acquits himself well. Anthony Edwards gives great antagonist in this, and it feels like he could have a future in movies if given the right roles. Another standout in the cast is Queen Latifah. It’s not a huge role, but she gives Teresa a real feeling of life. She and Sandler are very comfortable with each other on screen, which makes their characters’ marriage feel legitimate and lived in. Foster is essentially given a moustache-twirling villain role, the rich kid boss who is a jerk with no redeeming qualities, but he plays it well. There are also some fun cameos from other NBA players, former players, and ancillary league figures.
The script by Will Fetters and Taylor Materne, as mentioned, is very sports-movie standard. There aren’t any surprises here. A viewer with a working knowledge of the genre will be able to predict where it’s going next at most times. The direction, from Jeremiah Zagar (We the Animals), is solid, with some occasional flair. The basketball action is impressively staged and well-shot. Hustle isn’t giving the audience anything new, but it’s a well-done version of what has come before, elevated by a very good seriocomic performance from Adam Sandler.
I like the plot. I seen a preview of this film a few days ago. And I like the mix of comedy and drama together. The bond of the actors together works very well, they understand each other’s in terms of theme of the story.
I can’t wait to see this.
I’m not a fan of Sandler’s so I probably won’t be watching it.
As you so astutely mention this a story done over and over again. “Rudy”, “Hoosiers”…the underdog coming through at the end. I was not intending to make this film a priority until I remembered Sandler in “Uncut Gems”. The man can act and with you vouching for his performance, and pointing out how good the supporting cast is, it’s now way up on my list of films to see. You haven’t steered me wrong yet.
Thank you!
Not sure if hustle is any indication of the next wave of this netflix/happymadison deal but if it means a few more well directed dramas with genuinely understated and human performances from sandler then i’m here for it.
Jeremiah Zagar’s ‘Hustle’ is the ultimate comfort food movie. It doesn’t do anything you haven’t seen before, but like a great basketball player on the court it doesn’t need to, it’s all about the execution. After the critical and commercial success of ‘Uncut Gems’, it’s clear something has woken up in Sandler, and he’s charting a path for a strong late period career as a serious dramatic actor. In fact this film feels very much in line with Uncut Gems even though it’s a much more soft and less cynical film. There is an energy to the filmmaking that is infectious. Everything from a late night pickup game in a Spanish slum, the infamous NBA combine and even the ’80s esque trading montage midway through the movie. Shot with tons of handheld, snap zooms and fast cut editing that makes the basketball scenes exciting even to those who aren’t basketball fans. Also Zagar understands that to make the drama work in a sports film, it’s all about the characters. Sandler & real life basketball player Juancho Hernangómez have a wonderful, yet awkward chemistry that makes you root for them even if you know the film is eventually going to end with everything being okay for both. But that’s a testament to how strong their bond and performances are that as a viewer you accept the clichès without thinking too much into it. Also if you’re a basketball fan like myself this movie is packed to the brim with cameos and references. And I hate to be a total nerd, but seeing Allen Iverson’s cameo was my version of an Avengers movie. Managing to find the sweet spot between both the art-house award contenders like and the zany, slapstick comedies it’s star is known for. And the result is an absolute winner of a crowdpleaser. To the point where I really don’t think Netflix understands the real gem of a movie they have in their lap right now. But they’re going to go bankrupt in a year or two so they probably don’t deserve it to begin with.
Watching Hustle in Netflix felt like a love letter to the game of basketball where Adam Sandler gives it everything he’s got to the sport that he loves so much. This film felt like watching Spike Lee’s “He’s Got Game” meets “Rock” with the main character who has to get the “Eye of the Tiger” look when he is at the basketball court. You do get a sense of Jerry Maguire with Sandler’s character who is just hungry and obsessed with the sport and will do whatever it take to win by not giving up. This film is very much a dramedy from start to finish about who you are, be true to yourself and don’t give up on your dreams. I don’t see where this movie falls because the story is about redemption not just for Sandler’s character but also for the prospect he is trying to help achieve his dream. I was surprised to hear that LeBron James is one of the producers for this film and this is by far his finest work and far better than the Space Jam sequel. Again this movie tells as it is “Love of the game” by telling a beautiful character centric storyline.
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