Basketball, and by extension the NBA, is having a moment right now. Just in the last four months, we’ve had HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Apple TV Plus’ two docuseries They Call Me Magic and The Long Game, and now Netflix’s Hustle.
Netflix’s Hustle is an Adam Sandler joint. Now, before you close this review, give me a chance to make my case for it. Because Hustle isn’t your average Adam Sandler joint. This isn’t Hubie Halloween, or Murder Mystery, or The Do-Over Adam Sandler. This is Spanglish, and The Meyerowitz Stories, and Uncut Gems Adam Sandler. You know, where he’s doing some actual acting, from an actual script, with a proper story, and not just goofing off with friends.
Do the Hustle
Hustle tells the story of Adam Sandler’s Stanley Sugerman, a basketball scout for the Philadelphia 76ers who travels the world looking for new talent for the team. The job is brutal as he travels in and out of airports, and away from his family, wife Teresa (Queen Latifah) and daughter Alex (Jordan Hull). Stanley finally gets his wish of being a coach, but has it immediately taken away from him as the new owner of the team sends him back out on the road.
Except this time, Stanley is successful. He finds Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangómez), a Spanish amateur player, and brings him back Stateside to take part in the upcoming NBA draft. Cruz quickly finds out that his natural skill isn’t enough to even attempt to play pro-ball. And so Stanley puts his new ward through his paces as he tries to bring Cruz’s mental and physical toughness up to scratch.
Hustle is backed by some serious talent behind the camera. The director, Jeremiah Zagar comes from a documentary background, and Hustle is his first feature. The movie is co-written by Will Fetters, one of the writers of 2018’s eight time Academy Award nominated film A Star Is Born, and Taylor Materne, who penned the wildly successful NBA2K19 and NBA2K20 video games. Hustle is also produced by LeBron James.
The other thing that is worth noting about Hustle is the talent in front of the camera. With a basketball great like LeBron James involved, Hustle has packed it’s roster with young NBA players. Aside from lead Juancho Hernangómez, Anthony Edwards (not that one), Trae Young, Jordan Clarkson, Khris Middleton, Aaron Gordon, Kyle Lowry, and Seth Curry are all featured. And let me tell you, both Hernangómez and Anthony Edwards have a bright future as actors if this basketball thing doesn’t work out.
Please Sir, May I Have Some More (Of This Adam Sandler) Please?
Hustle is a good story well told. All the pieces come together in a nice neat package with a stellar performance by Sandler in the lead role. Nothing about Hustle breaks new ground or reaches for the stars. But sometimes, that isn’t what you need in a story. Especially when you have Adam Sandler’s everyman charm in full effect here as he plays the role of coach, mentor, father, and friend to the fish out of water Bo Cruz.
The story takes a familiar path as it goes from the ups of finding an uncut gem (heh!), getting turned down by the team, training montages, personal issues, overcoming obstacles, and finally, reaching the promised land. This is a (insert sport here) movie that we’ve all seen. And yet, Adam Sandler makes it more. Which, let me tell you, is something I never thought I’d ever say. In fact, Adam Sandler on a poster has almost always made me run for the hills.
Look. I’m no snob. I love Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and The Wedding Singer. At a stretch, I’d even go so far as to say I enjoyed The Waterboy and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. And Sandler’s more “dramatic” works have been excellent. From Punch-Drunk Love to Reign Over Me, and more recently, the Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems. He has, however, made so much bad stuff in between those outliers that it’s hard not to immediately get turned off when you hear about another Adam Sandler film. I for one would love to see more dramatic stuff from the actor. And Hustle is a great place to start redeeming himself in the eyes of fans.
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