Adam Sandler takes on Serious Role in “Hustle” (Review)

(image from TV Insider)

The movie Hustle, starring Adam Sandler and former NBA Player Juancho Hernangomez, was released on June 3rd, 2022. Drew, Ty, and Jaxson give their opinions on one of Sandler’s more heartfelt roles.
By: Drew Caraway, Ty Cameron, and Jaxson Folds

Drew
In my opinion, Hustle is one of the best basketball movies, even if it was released in 2022. Adam Sandler, playing Stanley Sugerman, is a recruiter for the Philadelphia 76ers. After the owner of the 76ers passes, his son, Vince Merrick, takes over and makes Adam Sandler go back to the recruiting aspect after recently being promoted.

Sandler contemplates his future with the 76ers after he spent a lot of time recruiting Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangomez), just for the team to draft a German star, Haas. Sandler builds his relationship with Hernangomez as he tries to get him a shot in the NBA, with rigorous training, until he finally gets his shot at the end of the movie.

In my personal opinion, there are hardly any “10/10” movies. However, this is one of them. I might be biased, but I still think this is a must-watch movie, even if you aren’t a sports fan. My favorite part of Hustle is how they use NBA players as actors, especially Anthony Edwards as Kermit Wilts. Edwards does an incredible job as the antagonist in this movie, constantly going at Bo Cruz and being a thorn in his side.

Ty
This movie was overall pretty good. I don’t watch many sports movies. The only ones I have watched were things like Karate Kid, Air Bud, and Remember the Titans. This was a new experience for me, not only for a sports movie, but also because I don’t watch many Adam Sandler movies.

Even more so, I don’t particularly like Adam Sandler movies, but this one was really special. One thing that I was especially fond of was the training montage with Sandler’s character, Stanley Sugerman, and Hernangomez’s character, Bo Cruz.

When it comes to these types of movies, one of my main focuses is the training montages, and this movie knocked it out of the park with this specific one. (image from IMDb.com)

For me, Hustle gets a solid 8/10. It loses some points because the editing in the movie was a bit wonky. For example, in a scene where the 76ers' front office discusses drafting a player named Haas, the camera cuts a lot and way too fast. The director might have been trying to convey a specific feel during that scene, but it still felt jarring. Again, it wasn’t too bad**,** but still noticeable while watching.

Jaxson
If you are a fan of a good sports movie, this is the one for you. It is a very heartfelt movie. The main character, Adam Sandler, plays Stanley Sugerman, who is also a great father figure for Bo Cruz, the streetball player with a ton of potential.

I think that it is one of the best sports movies you can ask for. It really might be up there with Remember the Titans. I also like the approach they took with the rival of Kermit Wilts, played by Anthony Edwards. This scheme of Bo Cruz having a rival made the movie much more suspenseful, and it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole movie.

In my rankings, I would put this as an S-tier movie. If you are looking for a movie to watch that is funny and will keep you attentive the whole time, watch this. It captures the workhorse personality and gives a great inspirational story. If I am giving my non-biased opinion, I would say this movie is a top-five Adam Sandler movie of all time.

This is a new experience for us on the sports team, as we have never really reviewed a movie in an article before. However, we are looking forward to continuing to review sports movies like this again, with the film Remember the Titans in December for its 25th anniversary.