One of the most contentious points of debate in my house is my spouse’s insistence there are 2 axioms: There’s no such thing as bad mac and cheese, or a bad Adam Sandler motion picture. They’re her two greatest likes, and I like to remind her that snack bars exist, as does Do not Tinker the Zohan.
Suffice it to say, I don’t share her steely resolve when it concerns Sandler flicks. So my expectations were all-time low for Hustle, the latest sports-adjacent film from Sandler’s “Delighted Madison” production company– which last provided us Home Team, the film about Sean Payton that was so bad it triggered me pain. I’m shocked to now tell you not only is Hustle really excellent, it may be among my preferred basketball movies of all-time.
Stanley Sugarman (Sandler) is a long-time worldwide scout for the Philadelphia 76ers whose goals have constantly been to get off the road and move into training. His dream is finally realized when group owner Rex Merrick (Robert Duval) notifies Stanley he’s transferring to the bench– only to pass away before the promotion is realized.
Required to handle brand-new owner Vince Merrick (Ben Foster), with whom he’s constantly butted heads, Stanley is put back on the road with a required: Discover a distinction maker, or be relegated to staying on the road as a scout forever.
This isn’t a special take on the sports move genre. Hell, the story isn’t dissimilar to 1994’s The Air Up There, albeit without the disgusting racial stereotyping of Africans. However, where Hustle exceeds is by taking the “surprise gem” concept and recontextualizing it in a way that feels real, fresh, and unique.
So much of this is due to the fact that of Utah Jazz forward Juancho Hernangomez, who plays Bo Cruz, the Spanish basketball prodigy that Stanley finds in Mallorca on a journey to see another player. Hernangomez is a revelation on the screen, showing incredible range as he expertly weaves his basketball chops with real significant variety the function needs. Yes, there are the exact same tropes of “struggling player from a broken house,” we have actually seen in sports motion pictures before– however the progression of Bo and Stanley’s relationship from being player-coach to father-son is organic and feels natural.
I’m not going to state Hustle is best, by any ways. There are times the film’s treatment of Bo is inconsistent. On minute he’s a company, thrust into working building and construction to support his young child and his mother. A couple of scenes later he’s infantilized, fawning over complimentary bread on the airplane to the United States and buying five cheesesteaks at the same time. The uneven treatment of Bo is a small quibble, but eliminates from what the character actually is: A boy who seems like the weight of the world is on his shoulders, lastly having somebody to lean on in Stanley.
A big part of what offers Hustle its chops comes from the ungodly quantity of NBA involvement in this film. Co-produced by LeBron James and Radical Carter’s “SpringHill Business,” it’s clear that a lot of favors were employed for this film. Anthony Edwards stars as the hilariously named villain “Kermit Wilts,” a highly-touted prospect out of Kentucky who grows frustrated with Bo’s growing fame– however beyond that the motion picture is littered with cameos from a few of the biggest names in NBA history. Julius Erving, Dirk Nowitzki, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley all make appearances– and that’s prior to we get to the other current NBA stars with their fingerprints all over Hustle.
Among the film’s last scenes is Bo’s redemption video game, a privately arranged pickup game in between leading potential customers and current gamers, with NBA front office staff seeing along. In this one series alone you can count the number of stars who showed up to deal with Hustle, from Trae Young, Kyle Lowry and Jordan Clarkson, to Celtics’ GM Brad Stevens– along with a bulk of the 76ers, who are frequent throughout the Philly-based story. The visible omission is Joel Embiid, who is discussed but unfortunately never appears on screen.
The epilogue balances the redemption of Stanley and Bo with a surprise that keeps Hustle from being too generic. We’re entrusted to truly among the best sports films of the last decade, and among the very best basketball movies of all-time.
These are the sort of movies I hope Sandler continues with. It’s an easier watch than 2019’s Uncut Gems, however shows that the comedian is at his best when he tones things back. It’s clear that everyone included with this project were purchased informing a good basketball story, which’s what makes it thrive vs. something like Home Group, which was attempting so tough to be a comedy that it lost all form of humor.
Let’s be genuine: Sandler’s run of Netflix movies have been primarily terrible, but Hustle is definitely worth taking a long time and watching. It’s enjoyable, it’s wholehearted, the basketball scenes are amazing, and it’s a breathe of fresh air.
Source: https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2022/6/17/23171163/adam-sandlers-hustle-netflix-best-basketball-movie