Hustle (2022) Movie Review
Sports movies might be the most formulaic genre in film history. You can almost always guess how the story will end and most of the time you can see what beats will be hit on the way there. But if a sports movie is incredibly good, you can forgive its formulaic origins. You can sit back and bask in the glory of a pulse-pounding, tear-jerking, fist pumping sports story. Hustle is one of these movies. Can you tell exactly what will happen within the first few opening minutes? Yep. Do you care? Nope. That’s how entertaining it is.
There are a few reasons why this movie works instead of being a lifeless predictable flop. The first is rather obvious: Adam Sandler. While Sandler has his share of odious movies (we’re looking at you Jack and Jill), he’s also proven he can actually act with Uncut Gems (2019). Hustle is another win for Sandler. He plays NBA scout Stanley Sugarman, who has dreams of coaching for the Philadelphia 76ers one day. He had a promising collegiate career until an injury knocked him out of contention. He’s a good scout but when new management takes over, he butts heads and begins struggling to make his voice heard. On a scouting trip he happens to stop by a pickup game and finds Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangomez), somewhat of a basketball prodigy. Game recognizes game, and Stanley takes a chance on him despite disagreements with the new management. If you’ve ever seen even one sports movie you can probably tell what’s going to happen so I won’t go into further detail.
Sandler is phenomenal and grooves incredibly well with Hernangomez. Their chemistry is the reason the story is so captivating. He also has some very funny moments with Queen Latifah who plays his wife Teresa, and their relationship is everything marriage should be. Sandler is in almost every scene of this movie and his real life love for basketball (he’s often videoed playing pick up games with non-famous folks) really comes through here. There are a host of famous NBA players sprinkled throughout the movie who even casual fans of the game will recognize like Seth Curry, Doc Rivers, Julius Erving AKA Dr. J, and Shaquille O’Neal.
The other reason this movie works is due to the director Jeremiah Zagar. He keeps us zipping along at a rapid pace and completes the obligatory sports training montage. But he taps into the human side of sports and showcases what it really takes to compete at the highest level. He is able to explore the mentality high-level athletes need to win and be successful, which is more interesting than your typical sports movie. Zagar’s 2018 movie We the Animals, was more of an emotional exploratory family drama but you can see parallels between it and Hustle. He focuses heavily on the emotional and human aspect of sports which is just as interesting if not quite as flashy.
Bo Cruz and Stanley Sugarman both face battles within themselves and Zagar shows that oftentimes belief in yourself is the only thing that will determine if you sink the bucket or miss it. Another sports movie and another parallel to a life lesson. Hustle is a win in my book.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You love basketball (particularly the NBA)
2. You love formulaic sports movies
3. You want to see Sandler in his best role since Uncut Gems
