Mark Reviews Movies: HUSTLE (2022)

Hustle, Netflix

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Review by Mark Dujsik | June 3, 2022

Will Fetters and Taylor Materne's screenplay for Hustle dances with despair and defeat more than we might expect from such a story. It's about a young man who is extremely talented as a basketball player, although overlooked and passed over by just about everything else in life. A scout for a professional team notices this ignored and forgotten guy's skills, and from there, it's just a matter of getting him on the right court, in front of the right people, and a pen with which to sign his lucrative contract. That's the obvious path of this tale, right?

Technically, this film doesn't shatter the formulaic mold, but beneath every training montage and every contrived obstacle and every move the script takes toward a self-apparent ending here, there's a genuine sense of desperation and frustration driving and often overpowering these characters. It possesses more than a hint of truth in that regard, and thanks to a few potent performances and the director Jeremiah Zagar's equally personalizes scenes on the court and behind-the-scenes, the particulars of this film feel honest, even as its whole is selling a fantasy.

One of those performances comes from Adam Sandler, who almost disappears into this quiet, reserved, and regret-filled role. He plays Stanley Sugerman, a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers who has spent his career traveling the globe, looking for hidden superstars in other countries. What he really wants from his career, though, is to coach, and after a couple decades of constant flying and sleeping in hotel rooms and missing birthdays, the team's owner (played by Robert Duvall) finally gives Stanley the promotion he has wanted, as an assistant coach.

For those interested in such things, Doc Rivers, the team's real-life coach, appears much later, and he's just one of the many, many supporting roles and cameos filled by actual professionals across the generations. A couple of the more important ones include Kenny Smith, as Stanley's former college teammate and current agent, and Anthony Edwards, as a guaranteed upper-tier pick in the draft who's quite arrogant about it. Two of the more entertaining ones include Boban Marjanovic, the NBA star from Serbia who plays a Serbian player clearly lying about his age, and Julius Erving, the Doctor himself as Dr. J himself.

The most vital role in the film, other than Sandler's, belongs to Juancho Hernangomez, who is currently an NBA player, originally from Spain. While his role as Bo Cruz—an incredibly talented basketballer from Spain who suddenly sees the idea of playing professionally in the United States as a distinct possibility—might not seem much of a stretch, the sportsman shows real promise as an actor, should his other career allow more of it.

He comes into the story after the death of the team's owner, when Vincent (Ben Foster), the late owner's son who takes over the role, puts Stanley back into his job as a scout. If he can find the key player who could lead the team to a championship, Vincent will return Stanley to coaching. The scout has a line here about people in their 50s no having dreams, but "nightmares and eczema," that starts to feel like a prophecy for the course of Stanley's side of the story.

While scouting a different player, he finds Bo by chance, seeing him hustle his way to some cash on an outdoor court (The work boots from his actual job definitely give a certain impression). Bo could have become a professional in Spain, but then, he became a single father and missed out on his chance. Stanley, whose own basketball career came to an end after a car accident, knows about that, and he wants to be as close to his family as Bo is to his now. His daughter (played by Jordan Hull) is heading to college soon, and then there's Stanley's wife Teresa, who's played by Queen Latifah as a smart and bluntly honest counterpoint to the typical, blindly supportive wife we usually see in this role. She supports Stanley, yes, but that doesn't keep her from telling her when and how he messes up in trying to get Bo on his team, defying Vincent and his own job security in the process.

The rest of this story is a mix of the predictable—a lengthy montage of Bo improving his skills, a series of barriers to the dreams of both central characters, the pair overcoming those obstacles—and some surprisingly thoughtful character work, both from the screenplay and the actors. Sandler abandons any kind of showiness here, playing Stanley as a drab, defeated man whose inspirational tactics could almost be seen as accidental. He's passionate about the sport and believes this young man is great—and could be even better—at it, and when Vincent rejects the idea of signing Bo, Stanley, out of ego as much as belief, takes it upon himself to get the young man prepared.

As for Hernangomez, he has a naïve kind of playfulness as Bo (Note how he reacts to seeing his daughter after a long absence). There's also insecurity and anger beneath that, after years of being bypassed and forgotten. Of all the considered details involving these characters and how they drive this story, one of the more intelligent choices is how the most significant obstacle for the aspiring pro has nothing to do with his past, the skepticism and grudges of others, or missing out on some opportunity. It's all internal—allowing those doubts to overwhelm his sense of self and purpose.

Hustle doesn't do anything new or unique with what is, at its core, a pretty formulaic and predictable story. It does, though, tell that story with an admirable sense of intimacy about and consideration for these characters, and that's what really matters.

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