Brandon at Random Reviews

I know I’ve talked about this before, but I’m not a fan of Adam Sandler comedies. At least not last dozen or so he’s been in. I want to say Waterboy was the last comedy of his I liked and I don’t think it’s held up like a Happy Gilmore or a Billy Madison. But one thing that has come from Sandler’s comedic decline is a pretty solid slew of dramatic film roles where he has really managed to show what he’s capable of.

In this movie Sandler stars as an NBA talent scout named Stanley Sugerman who encounters a potentially great street player in Spain named Bo Cruz and we get to see the journey of finding out if he’s really all he’s cracked up to be. Sugerman works for the Philadelphia 76ers and has been on the road for most of his career spanning several years and he is growing bitter about missing time with his family.

Stanley must convince 76ers ownership that Bo Cruz is good enough to compete at a professional level. Bo is portrayed by former NBA player Juancho Hernangómez, who honestly stands out as being quite possibly the most mediocre actor they could’ve gone with. Maybe it’s his accent that throws me off, but I just feel like he’s not that spectacular at acting.

Stanley puts his career on the line to prove that Bo is worth shit, especially working on his mental toughness and not letting other players trash talk him and get in his head. There are also other personal setbacks that are revealed about Bo that I won’t spoil.

Queen Latifah is excellent as Stanley’s supportive wife. Kenny Smith does a decent job as agent and old friend friend to Stanley and at times tries to lure him away from the scouting life that has had so many ups and downs. Ben Foster, who you’ve probably seen in stuff before, plays a good frequently opposing member of the Sixers front office who casts doubt on Stanley’s insights about potential scouting prospects at every turn.

All in all, Sandler turns in the solid performance you’ve been hearing about in this movie. Most of the supporting cast does stellar work. Although, I would say this film would’ve been better served by trying to potentially find someone better to portray Bo Cruz, it doesn’t ruin the movie for me at all. “Hustle” is available now on the streaming service Netflix.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️