Hustle (2022)
SHOULD I SEE IT?
YES
When committed, Adam Sandler is a wonderful dramatic actor and Hustle ranks as one of his best performances.
Though predictable, Hustle is a rousing, inspiring sports underdog story and the feel-good nature of the film is kind of something we all could use right now.
Jeremiah Zagar is a pretty terrific filmmaker. We need more from him.
NO
The formulaic nature of the film may be a detriment for people who expect a little more from their films.
Is it a comedy/drama? A straight-up sports drama? A basketball version of Rocky? Could play for some viewers as struggling to find a common tone and theme.
If you are not an Adam Sandler fan, including in his dramatic roles, this movie will likely not turn your feelings around.
OUR REVIEW
When he finds the right dramatic role, Adam Sandler can be a powerful dramatic actor. With Hustle, as a veteran NBA scout, Stanley Sugarman, he finds a sweet spot between spouting punchlines and jovial interactions, while exhibiting a down-on-his-luck demeanor that allows him to explore the desperation and fear in becoming obsolete in a world he has devoted his life to.
Though it feels like a true story, Hustle is a fictional tale of an NBA scout for the Philadelphia 76ers, chewed up and burned out from constant trips around the world recruiting talent. With an upcoming NBA combine and draft, Sugarman finds himself headed back into the unrelenting grind of five-star hotels and clandestine workouts and public gyms, scanning for the next greatest professional basketball discovery all over the world.
On a trip to Spain, trying to decompress from the latest stresses of travel and some unexpected restructuring within the 76ers’ organization, Stanley wanders out to a public basketball court and locks eyes on a sinewy, tall, impressive street baller, effortlessly hustling a number of local players and humbling them in all aspects of the game.
After some initial struggles in making a connection, Stanley meets Bo Cruz (NBA player Juancho Hernangómez) and convinces him that he has the potential to change his life by bringing him stateside and having him workout for scouts, coaches, and NBA executives. He is convinced Bo Cruz is the next big thing.
Directed by Jeremiah Zagar (We Are Animals), and co-produced by Sandler and LeBron James, Hustle may hit predictable and familiar tropes and beats throughout its nearly two-hour running time. However, the film also embodies an undeniable underdog story that is densely layered in the motivations of Cruz and of Sugarman.
With a cast that includes more than three-dozen current or former NBA players, Hustle blurs the lines of fiction and reality. One person who loves the movie was telling me how amazing it was that Bo Cruz’s real story was being told on screen. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that there is no Bo Cruz, and Hernangómez’s story is not at all similar to Cruz’s fictional story. However, Zagar presents these characters and these personalities in such a realistic, believable way, it is next-to-impossible to not get swept up in the emotions and excitement the film generates.
Sandler has spent a lifetime playing goofy, childish characters that are rather obviously beneath his talents. So to see him pull out a moving and lasting performance, as he does here, not only accentuates his abilities but also makes you wonder what has held him back from consistently balancing comedy and drama throughout his career. Though the scenes with his family - Queen Latifah stars as his wife and Jordan Hull as their adult-aged daughter - seem to slow down some of the film’s strengths, Sandler’s chemistry with Hernangómez is where the film becomes a de facto Rocky-style experience.
Even in weaker moments, like the squabbles Sugarman has with a dismissive, reductive co-owner of the 76ers (an underutilized Ben Foster), the film fights through familiarity with Sandler wringing out every beat of strain and emotion from the words of screenwriters Taylor Materne and Will Fetters.
In total, this is a rather wonderful film to discover. Hustle overcomes its predictability and lack of surprises by developing main characters that mean something to viewers. Sandler’s emotional connection in playing Sugarman speaks volumes to the overarching credibility that Zagar infuses throughout the film’s situations, characters, and storytelling components.
Sometimes movies just come along and hit at the right time. Sandler enhances a film that seems to be just the kind of uplift that we need right now. For a movie steeped in the “hustle,” there is a genuineness found here that makes this a winner over and over again.
CAST & CREW
Starring: Adam Sandler, Queen Latifah, Juancho Hernangómez, Ben Foster, Kenny Smith, Anthony Edwards, Jordan Hull, Heidi Gardner, Robert Duvall, María Botto, Raúl Castillo, Ainhoa Pillet, Jaleel White, Julius Erving
Director: Jeremiah Zagar
Written by: Taylor Materne, Will Fetters
Release Date: June 3, 2022
Netflix