Review: Adam Sandler's SAG-nominated ‘Hustle’
Wednesday, January 18, 2023 at 2:00PM 
Twenty long years ago, popular comedian Adam Sandler was in serious awards conversation for the first time for his dramatic collaboration with Paul Thomas Anderson in Punch-Drunk Love. Three years ago, a handful of prominent citations and an Independent Spirit Award for Uncut Gems looked like it might finally help him breakthrough to a first Oscar nomination (it did not). Now, Sandler is somewhat unexpectedly making an awards play (sports reference?) again thanks to a surprise SAG nomination for his basketball drama Hustle, which is streaming on Netflix.
Sandler stars as Stanley Sugerman, a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers who becomes tired of missing his daughter’s birthdays each year while he’s traveling throughout Europe or somewhere else in search of the next great talent...
That timing coincides with him finding just that: a Spanish construction worker named Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangómez) whose height and style give him a major leg up on any opponents. His lack of professional experience, however, forces Stanley to train him so that he could prove to anyone with power that this guy is the real deal.
There are two strange things about Hustle that have nothing to do with one another. The first is that the cast is littered with real-life basketball stars playing themselves despite the fact that the story is entirely fictional, something that will surely delight basketball fans but otherwise does nothing to enhance the viewing experience for those, like this reviewer, with no knowledge whatsoever of the sport. Though he’s not playing himself, basketball star Hernangómez makes his acting debut with this role, one that sees his character follow the typical underdog path.
The more startling factoid is that this is the second feature film from Jeremiah Zagar, which couldn’t look anything less like his first film, We the Animals. Yes, Raúl Castillo makes a brief appearance, but the similarities end there. This is a remarkably different kind of film, one that makes a standard sports drama somewhat more inviting but doesn’t retain any of the stylization or intimacy found in Zagar’s acclaimed debut. This interview indicates Zagar’s initial hesitation and his ability to “reinvent the art of basketball cinematography,” but there isn’t much that truly elevates it from being what it is, a passable sports flick with enough moments of excitement and lightheartedness to keep it going.
But the reason this film is in the conversation at the moment is Sandler. He still fires off a handful of one-liners, mostly about how he thinks Cruz is calling him fat, but he’s not trying to be the comedic center of attention. It’s certainly a competent turn, but hardly one that feels awards-worthy, even in a weak category this year like the Best Actor race has shaped up to be. Ben Affleck had a stronger narrative to break in for The Way Back two years ago, but that was also a considerably more dramatic performance. After all this time making audiences laugh, Sandler is getting a bit more serious, but still not too much. An Oscar nomination for this perfectly fine film and performance would be more of an acknowledgment of his long-standing career and willingness to try new things than a celebration of an enduring or earth-shattering portrayal. B
Hustle is streaming on Netflix.
Adam Sandler, Hustle, Jeremiah Zagar, Netflix, Raul Castillo, Reviews, SAG, sports, streaming
Reader Comments (10)
I can't believe Punch-Drunk Love was already 20 years ago.
Uncut Gems was the perfect moment to give him a nod. This movie seems really uninteresting. I guess unless you're a b-ball fan.
Are we all sleeping on Felix Kammerer for the fifth slot in Best Actor?
I don't like sports films and this one we have seen a million times before,it's akin to Hoosiers and the like only with a less compelling lead in Sandler,he's fine but does that thing comedy actors do when called on to really act he shouts a lot for effect but in a weak year when we are considering Tom Cruise for being Tom Cruise Last Great Movie Star it wouldn't be so egregious to give him a nod plus Uncut Gems was a snub.
I'd be floored if Sandler makes it in.
I largley see this SAG award nom, and this campaign, as paving the way for the eventual Oscar-season when Sandler gets a nomination (and is in the hunt for the win). Similar to McConaughey winning. I suspect he'll give a performance in a well-loved Best Picture nominee, or it will have to be something earth-shattering. But this nomination, and his run for Uncut Gems feel like a signal that the industry sees him as an actor, and that they're watching.
I keep hearing good things about this. I think I should check it out but I want to see Uncut Gems first.
This movie was atrocious, abysmal. I can't believe anyone would give it above a 2 out of 10.
I think it's very possible he gets in -- and I agree, it's similar to the Ben Affleck near-miss from 2020. Working in Sandler's favor is that this category is literally EMPTY this year. There are 3 sure things -- Brendan Fraser, Colin Farrell, Austin Butler -- and then a bunch of folks on the fringes in movies that are tiny tiny tiny. Have enough people actually seen Living? Or Aftersun? Or Inspection?
I think Gabriel LaBelle is actually more likely since at least he's in a movie voters will 100% be viewing anyway. I'm actually about to predict Tom Hanks in "A Man Called Otto" simply because he's a name people have heard of (similar to the Denzel nod for "Roman J. Esquire" a few years back). I think the last two spots are a tossup between some combination of Tom Cruise, LaBelle, Sandler, and Hanks.
Sandler should have won every possible award for his searing performance in Uncut Gems, the closest thing American film has come to 70's Sidney Lumet in this century. Masterpiece.
So if Sandler did get the nom, everyone is gonna say it is a make-up nom for the Uncut Gems snub 3 yrs ago.
Not sure that there is a good legacy to have.
well, it's an OK, maybe above average film and Sandler is actually great, even if I agree that hardly on Uncut Gems or Punch-Drunk-Love levels by any means. Yes, he shouldn't be nominated over Kammerer (or the hilarious Banderas self-spoof in Official Competition, which doesn't catch Awards fire, despite richly deserving it). I won't protest for his nomination, but it's mostly a pat in the back for trying something else than his usual schtick