Hustle #1

I anticipate this to be a first discussion here because Keith is the basketball junkie whose for this movie inevitably outshines my own and will not stand for my having posted something about it and he did not.

There will always be joy in finding raw and unrefined talent in unexpected places. We love it in stories because there is always a part of us that feels like our potential may as yet be untapped and if someone with the right vision could see it and draw it out of us, we could achieve the greatness that we know lies within. That idea at the heart of the found-prodigy genre of sports films that extends from Rocky to Queen of Katwe. There is nothing quite as exhilarating as being underestimated and showing your worth.

And that may be why Adam Sandler’s more dramatic roles are so engaging, as well. He has a standard thing going that he’s done since the 1990’s and it’s entertaining and hits a certain spot in the pop culture landscape that people watching Netflix need to have available. But there is the thread of Sandler works that draw something else out of him and has a deeper truth to who he is. They are revealing. Whether it's Punch Drunk Love or Uncut Gems, these draw a different style of intensity that is refreshing. It’s drama and, at its best, it opens up the reality in the flipside of the common Sandler persona.

I may go a bit too far, as Hustle dabbles in the dramatic side of Sandler, but is not the version that Paul Thomas Anderson or the Safdies get out of him in the aforementioned films. But what it does showcase is a bit more of the desperation that is integral in those other roles. The normally chill character he plays does not showcase much hunger or fear beyond losing the remote or having to hike a few miles to deal with a broken down car. When Sandler’s life is on the line, however - whether physically or emotionally - that’s when the best comes out.

In Hustle he is in a bind because the boss that held him under his wing for so long has passed away and his uncaring son takes over the basketball franchise he works for (the 76ers) as a talent scout. Sandler’s character has to find a unicorn or he’s force to forget his dream of coaching. He finds his guy in Spain, nevermind that neither he nor Sandler’s character have quite the amount of charm and caress needed to sell him to those hiring in the NBA. So Sandler puts his own money on the line to stand behind his player - a guy he found at a streetball game.

The fear of relegation, of wasting untapped potential on the verge of greatness, is a compelling driving force for a film. Here the filmmakers strike the balance well between humor and tension. The soundtrack of US and international hip hop gets a lot of work done setting the tone and bringing the fun. It is formulaic, to be sure, with Queen Latifah as Sandler’s wife, his daughter’s resistance as a subplot, and our man the basketball player’s mom and little girl pulling at your heartstrings. But it’s a story we can all relate to, seeing ourselves as at some point as a little undervalued when looked at on paper but with a hope that others will see us for who we are and help us to succeed. That’s a powerful thought, indeed.