Hustle

Starring: Adam Sandler, Juancho Hernangomez, Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Kenny Smith, Anthony Edwards, Robert Duvall, Jordan Hull, Maria Botto, Raul Castillo, Jaleel White, Julius Erving, Doc Rivers, Dirk Nowitzki, Trae Young, Mark Cuban, Shaquille O'Neal
Directed by: Jeremiah Zagar
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Sport
2022

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A basketball scout (Adam Sandler) discovers an incredibly talented player (Juancho Hernangomez) playing streetball in Spain. When his NBA team rejects his idea to bring him to the league, he risks everything to prove them wrong.

Review:

Tim: Jeremiah Zagar's Hustle proved to be an incredibly pleasant surprise. This Netflix film is a fantastic inspirational sports film. It's one of the better basketball movies I've seen in the last decade. It once again shows that Adam Sandler is more than only a comedic actor. It's entertaining, engrossing, in short, it's everything we hope to see in a sports film.

The movie does a great job of setting up our protagonists. Adam Sander's Stanley Sugarman is a road warrior for the Philadelphia 76ers. He travels around the globe, scouting for talent. At this point in his life, he's worn down and ready to move to the next step of his career. He's promised that chance, but then his dream job is whisked away from him. Back on the road, he makes what he believes is the discovery of a lifetime. He finds a prodigious talent hustling players on the street in Spain. This starts an incredible underdog story- a young player who's suffered a lot in his life, offered a shot to join the NBA. Their journey is the heart of the film and it's incredibly entertaining to watch. It doesn't move in a straight line- they take a winding road, full of setbacks and disappointments. Zagar paces the film exceptionally well. The movie might be a tad long at 1 hour, 57 minutes, but it only drags in a few spots. Mostly, it holds our attention quite well.

I was quite impressed with the different training sequences. Honestly, a ton of the movie's runtime is spent showing Bo Cruz working with Stanley in various training drills. This might not sound all that engrossing, but it is. You're watching this young, unrefined player put in the hard work to sharpen his skills and get ready to compete on the world's biggest stage. Zagar shoots these scenes so well. They're often peppered with humor and you kind of feel amazed how entertained you are by watching a basketball player doing drills. They really do hold your attention- the quick cuts, the small signs of progress and momentum, they're among the better montage-like scenes I've watched. That's always one potential downfall with a sports movie- they never spent as much time as needed on the training montages, so it feels forced and rushed when the athlete all of a sudden has significantly better skills than they originally did. This movie is the opposite- Bo Cruz's progression feels natural and appropriate. That's a big reason this movie ends up working as well as it does.

Sandler is excellent in the role. I love that he's embracing these more dramatic roles, even though this one is peppered with humor. He's fantastic at playing these world weary characters who lighten up their scenes with just the right amount of humor. He really establishes a strong emotional connection with the audience- we genuinely care about Stanley as the film progresses. This is critical for a sports movie to make a lasting impact. The same can be said for Juancho Hernangomez, who is a revelation as Bo Cruz. Hernangomez is a European basketballer and he gives a surprisingly effective performance. Athletes very often aren't effective actors- the skill sets they've spent a lifetime honing don't translate well into acting performances. I thought Hernangomez was excellent, though. He's a bit stoic, as you'd expect, but you really learn to love Cruz throughout this film. Zagar deserves a ton of credit for helping Hernangomez to look so good. I thought Sandler and Hernangomez worked exceptionally well together. They had genuine chemistry and were a blast to watch. Their banter, the sense that they increasingly grew to love each other, it's genuinely heartwarming as you watch the film. This is the biggest reason Hustle works so well- Sandler and Hernangomez bring the best out of each other. I loved their relationship here.

The supporting cast is good, too. I was actually stunned that I liked Kenny Smith's performance as much as I did. He just felt like a genuine actor in this role. Queen Latifah has a few nice moments throughout the film. I adored seeing Robert Duvall here, although his screen time is limited. He makes a surprisingly powerful impact on the entire film. Ben Foster really embraces his unlikable role. It was fun seeing Jaleel White, and so many NBA cameos- Dirk Nowitzki gives a great facetime performance, it's always great seeing Dr. J., and there's so many effective player appearances that it becomes total fun to see who's going to show up next. It never feels overly gratuitous, their performances are pulled in to make the story feel like it's actually taking place within the NBA.

It feels to me like it's been a long time since we got a truly effective basketball movie. Hustle is absolutely that. It gives us more insight into global NBA scouts (I'd never much considered their lifestyle before this), as well as the process of a potential star, the opportunities they might get to showcase their talent, the challenges they face as they approach the world's biggest stage. This is a hopeful movie, an inspiring one. It's about taking chances, about risking everything for something you believe in. It's ultimately about two men supporting each other's dreams. I'm a huge fan of this movie- it's one of the more entertaining films of 2022.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



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