![]() ![]() ![]() Their inclusion also adds invaluable proficiency to the film’s basketball play. As are the other basketball-world stars making cameos Trae Young, Tobias Harris, Doc Rivers, Kenny Smith, Julius Erving, and so forth don’t gum up the works à la Space Jam, but add a welcomed realism. And Hernangomez, a six-year NBA veteran, is captivating. Sandler’s penchant for mixing laughs with heartache rises to the occasion to flesh out his surface-level character. A connection similar to Jerry Maguire’s Jerry and his client Rod Tidwell emerges between the pair, as Stanley becomes Bo’s hype man - describing him as “If Scottie Pippen and a wolf had a baby” - and a therapist and father figure for the gifted player. Sandler and Hernangomez share impressive chemistry. And while the movie partly suffers for it, Hustle is still effectively tender. But Fetters and Materne aren’t interested in the darker, edgier corners that are fundamental to redemption stories. There’s a version of this movie where Sandler’s washed-up scout veers closer to the struggling alcoholic Ben Affleck plays in the recovery-through-sports movie The Way Back. Queen Latifah is relegated to the supportive-wife role, and Stanley’s relationship with his daughter lacks depth, in spite of their easygoing dynamic. Heidi Gardner as Vince’s sister, who might have an unexplained crush on Stanley, scarcely finds any screen time, and neither does Duvall. At least Foster’s ability to project an off-the-handle anger makes a meal out of the crumbs that script gives him. Vince is a clear villain, but the script doesn’t give him much motivation to wreck Stanley’s life. When Stanley returns to America with Bo, Vince isn’t interested in the freakishly talented Spaniard. Hustle offers plenty of feel-good avenues, but writers Will Fetters ( A Star is Born) and Taylor Materne struggle to develop their characters. His fatherly drive recalls Ray Allen’s paternalistic character in He Got Game. (Why none of these athletes spot the 6’9” Bo as a ringer stretches the imagination.) Bo is a single father who wants a better life for his young daughter, Lucia, and uses basketball as a solution. In Spain, Stanley discovers Bo, who not only plays basketball in Timberlands, he hustles the local players out of money by challenging them to one-on-ones. After Rex gives Stanley his long-desired promotion to assistant coach of the 76ers, Vince bumps him back to the road, with a lone directive: If the beleaguered scout can find a generational talent, he’ll get his coaching job back. ![]() That sequence finds its inspiration from Sandler’s role as a sensitive dad in Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories.Įven Stanley’s discovery of Bo Cruz traces to another movie. Stanley placates Vince by routinely missing his own daughter’s birthday to be on the road, but they still maintain a heartwarming relationship, seen in a car ride where she explains her dream of attending film school. A tenacious scouting meeting between Stanley and Vince, in which they argue over the prowess of an international prospect who Stanley thinks lacks heart, is ripped from Moneyball. The meek Stanley tries to be a team player by ceding ground to the hostile Vince Merrick (Ben Foster), son of 76ers team owner Rex (Robert Duvall). But in the early going of Hustle, the bones of other, better movies are visible. It deploys an all-star ensemble, ingenious camerawork, and sharp editing to uplift a cliché story about earnest fatherhood and distant hoop dreams. Hustle is decidedly glitzier and bigger than Zagar’s previous film, the critical indie darling We the Animals. When he discovers Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangomez), a tall Spanish construction worker with game, he thinks he’s found his once-in-a-lifetime lottery ticket. He wants to be a coach so he can find some stability and spend time with his wife, Teresa (Queen Latifah), and their daughter (Jordan Hull). Stanley has spent the last eight years traveling from game to game and hotel room to hotel room around the world, searching for a difference-making player who can lead to a championship for his team, the Philadelphia 76ers. Hustle, Zagar’s inspirational basketball flick for Netflix, is essentially Rocky meets Jerry Maguire.Īnd Sandler as weary NBA scout Stanley is the film’s rousing compass. It’s why his pairing with an emotionally perceptive director like Jeremiah Zagar makes so much sense. Between his sharp jokes resides a stunning, often unlikely intimacy that makes Sandler into Hollywood’s biggest puppy dog. It’s an innate talent that’s served him well in emotionally complex roles in Funny People, Punch-Drunk Love, The Wedding Singer, Uncut Gems, and so forth. Adam Sandler is the rare star who isn’t afraid to look vulnerable. ![]()
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