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source: Hustle

I'm not a basketball fan, but I like sport movies. They always have some energy to them and a clear plot line. We go from being losers to winners. Step by step. It's always engaging. But you also know the beat very well by now. There are multiple huge sport movies made each single year and they are largely the same. This one is too, shame. There is nothing new or fresh as such. The first 3 minutes are amazing. Shots are spliced together with Adam Sandler in different countries and it looks glorious. The rap goes perfect with it. It's flashy, expensive, fresh, and feels high quality. Unfortunately after that there is not a lot to really remember from this. Sandler goes to Spain. By chance he sees a street game and sees a huge talent who doesn't play on a team. He brings him to USA, but his NBA team doesn't want this guy. Sandler pays for his hotel and food without telling him while training him to get ready for try-outs. It's really that simple. We get some family scenes and a few Sandler jokes. But overall there is not much here at all. It's mediocre. The plot is not great. But what really brings it down is that like 45 min of the movie is just training montages. And I'd love to see them if they were well filmed. But the editing is jarring and we seldom really see much of it. It's just cut after cut. Some works, but overall it feels like a movie experiment from people who don't like basketball. The basketball itself is cut out and replaced with mini shots. Which is a shame as this guy is an actual NBA player so he could play at a top level. The movie is just too long. In the last 30 minutes you start to really hope something will happen. But it continues with the same old beats. More training montages, more emotional family scenes, more hopeful speeches. All fine of course, but it feels like it doesn't really have a plot for a full movie. And yet it's actually a very long movie. The casting was weird too. The kid he finds looks like an adult man. He has tattoos all over his body. He's also dry, boring, and flat as an actor. No charisma. Nothing really in him. Just boring to watch and he looks off. Because of that the movie never works. If it was short you could get past that. But it keeps going and going and his lack of acting talent becomes too much. Plus the training montages edit out the basketball anyhow so it feels like it misses on both marks: acting and basketball. He at times plays vs. An arrogant Black kid who seems perfect for the leading role. What could have been. Imagine a cocky arrogant player who constantly gets into trouble. Maybe kicked off his team? Sandler gives him a second chance. Instead we get this adult man who has a daughter. It doesn't really look real and his character is too dry to care about. Also, how did he get to an NBA level and not even make a regular team in Spain? Impossible. NBA caliber players dominate in Spain. He'd be the best player in the league in months. Overall I did watch it all and enjoyed myself for the first hour. Then it got boring. My issue is more that the movie feels hollow. Like watching 2 hours of nothing much. I could have watched a great NBA documentary instead and actually learned about basketball and history. Instead we get training montages. The movie is not unenjoyable. It just feels like it's... a sport movie. Nothing else. And since it's fictional it really lacks a soul or anything much to learn from it. Shame, could be edited down to a 1:20 long movie focused on the story itself. That way it could work as a product. Without this edit it just overstays its welcome even though it never becomes painfully boring. It's very focused on the drama and emotional scenes, but I didn't come here for that. I came for basketball and didn't really get that.

From Billy Madison and Jack & Jill to Uncut Gems and Hustle, Adam's come a long way. Great movie with a near perfect arc, the only major flaw was that the payoff was so short, wish they showed Cruz a little more in his triumphant state.

This was really bad. If you want to portray a desperate character you have to show it. Don't hold back. They couldn't decide if they wanted Sandler to be a softie or Happy Gilmore. But if you want him to be a down-on-his-luck late middle-aged loser, we need more grit in his performance. Maybe a breakdown moment about his lost potential, not just a quiet confession. I'm fine with the believability of his inter-ethnic marriage, but all we saw was his wife peppering him with sophomoric gestures from urban cliches. I don't believe that at their age. Wow, there was zero chemistry there. It was so forced and cringeworthy. Running through the streets of Philadelphia to a soundtrack to get prepared for a big sports challenge is so derivative it's embarrassing. A stoic street athlete with a temper is not very original. What if he kept a brutally honest journal or he was a poet? That would have been different. What a stilted nothing relationship the Sandler character had with his daughter. She's supposed to be preparing for college, but she looks 14. Meanwhile he treats her like his friend. When she's attracted to our protagonist they didn't go there. Too messy I suppose. Adam Sandler as a former Division 1 college basketball player? Please, no. You could say it's original for the lead kid to not have a love interest. I'll give credit for that. He was kind of shy. You would totally be expecting there to be someone, with it being a movie about a jock. But it's unique and good that there wasn't. I found it hard to believe that an international scout would not speak any Spanish and then would start speaking fast English with a desperately poor Spanish family and they understood him perfectly. As did the lead kid throughout the picture. Wouldn't he need to take some English classes? All this was, was Adam Sandler being himself, leading a shy tall kid around Philadelphia, having him try to play basketball with seasoned players. Failing, trying again, failing, then having a good day. That's not really entertaining. I'll need more story, more background, more motivation, more grit, and way less rap music. Why wouldn't the kid be a prospect for the Spanish pro basketball league? Boring, derivative, and downright silly.

Greetings again from the darkness. As a sports fan and movie fan, I approach every sports movie with trepidation and low expectations. Let's face it, most actors aren't great (or even good) athletes, and most athletes aren't great (or even good) actors. We would have no interest in a western where the cowboys can't ride horses, just as we have no interest in watching John Goodman portray a baseball legend in THE BABE (1992). I tell you this to convey my state of mind while preparing to watch this basketball movie from director Jeremiah Zagar and co-writers Will Fetters (A STAR IS BORN, 2018) and Taylor Materne. It gives me pleasure to say that even though the premise is kind of similar to Kevin Bacon's 1992 film, THE AIR UP THERE, this one should satisfy most sports and basketball fans. Adam Sandler stars as Stanley Sugermen, a long-time scout for the Philadelphia 76'ers. An opening montage gives us a taste of why he's worn out and beaten down after so many years on the road. Rushing to catch flights, too many fast-food meals, crashing in one hotel after another, and chasing down tips on the next great player ... it all adds up to frustration and too much time away from his wife Teresa (Queen Latifah) and teenage daughter (Jordan Hull). Feeling unappreciated and questioning his professional future, Stanley is ecstatic when the long-time Sixers owner played by (Oscar winner) Robert Duvall promotes Stanley to assistant coach. Unfortunately, the dream-come-true turns into a nightmare when the beloved owner dies, leaving his cocky son Vince (Ben Foster) in charge of the team. Vince has little respect for Stanley and promptly sends him back on the road. It's in Mallorca, Spain where Stanley stumbles on a nighttime game at a local outdoor court. Immediately catching his eye is an intense, lanky player in work boots. NBA player Juancho Hernangomez stars as Bo Cruz, a true previously undiscovered diamond in the rough. The dream of all scouts is to be the first to find a transcendent player, and once they hear the NBA minimum salary, Bo's mother and young daughter are on board with Stanley taking Bo to the United States. Of course, things don't go according to plan. Vince rejects Bo, and a history of anger issues comes back to haunt Bo. Stanley ignores the naysayers, trusts his instincts, and takes on the project of preparing Bo for the scouting combine. The training montage is very well done, as Sandler and Juancho are both believable and draw us in for support. Cinematographer Zak Mulligan and director Zagar deserve credit for filming the basketball sequences in a style that highlights the athletic talent without resorting to cheap editing tricks. Of course it helps that the basketball sequences are loaded with actual NBA players and playground legends. These guys look like they can play because they CAN. I'll leave the closing credit montage to highlight most of those involved, but a couple of standouts include Boban Marjonovich and Anthony Edwards, the latter playing Bo's head-game nemesis, Kermit Wilts. Also making appearances are Kenny Smith as a player agent, and the great Julius "Dr J" Erving, who has a couple of scenes. When most people think of Adam Sandler, his long list of sophomoric and absurd man-child movies come to mind. Certainly, he can't be blamed for giving the masses what they want. It's made him a very rich man. However, his talent in more dramatic roles should not be ignored. The recent UNCUT GEMS and THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES are examples, and going back further, his turn in PUNCH DRUNK LOVE remains one of his best. As Stanley Sugermen, Sandler injects humor into his love of basketball, tossing in a couple of 'soccer' and 'geezer' jokes. Overall, he successfully captures the essence of an everyman seeking redemption for his self and his family. Streaming on Netflix beginning June 8, 2022.

Once again it's no surprise that Adam shines in another more serious role. When people constantly seem to be shocked at his range I tell them to go back and watch reign over me. He's always had this versatility. That's not to say his signature brand of comedy isn't implemented in this solid film. The story is rather straightforward an interesting as it also shows his passion for the game of basketball that he's always had in reality as well. Overall another solid entry into his recent renaissance. Wasn't too fond of certain moments or the casting of Latifah as his wife but I can look that over.

Why can he make excellent films like this yet still makes garbage films where he pulls stupid faces and talks stupid? This film had Rocky vibes not just Philly wise,it was engrossing and despite preferring football as we say in the UK to basketball it was entertaining all the way through...please stop with the terrible comedies and stick to this sort of stuff...

The 2022 model netflix movie produced by LeBron James and Adam Sandler... LeBron aside, Adam Sandler, who is a basketball fan, played great... The movie is probably one of the best sports movies made in the last 10 years. Adam Sandler is a wine man, his acting gets better as he gets older.

But if you are, then you'll love this Adam Sandler and LeBron James production. It's a great and touching story, told perfectly, with outstanding performances and chemistry by Sandler and actual NBA star Juancho Hernangomez. You'll also see a bunch of other NBA players and celebrities. The directing is excellent, as is the cinematography. The almost 2 hour runtime flew by with the great pacing. This film is certainly one of the better sport-dramas I've seen, if not the best. I promise you you'll laugh and you will cry. This is a re-watch at least one more time for sure. A well deserved 9/10 from me.

This must be the least inspiring sports movie I have ever watched. It had all the ingredients but lacked emotion. The movie falls flat and fails to inspire any emotion or connect with the story or characters. At times it kind of feels lazy and takes things for granted. It tried hard to be like Rocky but fails at every level. Sandlot was the only reason I watched it till the end and even that was a tough task. Hardly feel any connect with the characters. Overall a average movie.