Source: IMDb
Adam Sandler’s new Netflix movie Hustle is about NBA recruiter Stanley Sugerman whose own NBA dreams were cut short. Due to his past, Stanley really wants to be a coach. Stanley recruits for the Philadelphia 76ers. The owner, Rex Merrick (Robert Duvall) promises Sugarman an assistant coach position. Unfortunately, Merrick passes away and his son, Vince Merrick (Ben Foster), regulates him back to recruiter status to find him a missing piece of the team puzzle. Sugarman ends up in Spain where he finds a street player, Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangomez), a construction worker who lives with his daughter and mother. Sugarman brings Bo back to get a tryout and finds that he still has a lot of work. His boss Vince doesn’t want Bo and Sugarman continues to collaborate with him with the support of his wife, Teresa Sugarman (Queen Latifah) and his daughter Alex ( Jordan Hull).
Source: Netflix US Youtube Channel
Sugarman finds out about Bo’s past arrest after they arrive in the US. Nevertheless, he still believes in Cruz's talent, gets Bo into the showcase but finds that he is mentally weak after the potential first round draft nominee Kermit Wilt-Washington (Anthony Edwards) gets into Bo’s head. Sugarman asks his friend, Leon Rich (Kenny Smith) who is a sports agent to try and get Bo into The Combine.
Hustle is a story where you don’t give up on what you believe in. Sugarman believed in Bo and his talent, but he also had to get Bo to believe in himself as well. He also had to teach Bo that no matter what happened in your past is what you do with your future that counts. Both Sugarman and Bo have supportive families and it's that support that eventually gets you to root for both to succeed.
Once again, Adam Sandler is in his dramatic bag, and I thought I wouldn’t believe Queen Latifah as his wife, but you can feel the love between them. Ben Foster is always good as the antagonist. The scene stealer, Anthony Edwards, really took his trash talk to another level. Juancho Hernangomez was good as Bo Cruz. I was really impressed by his acting. This was a strong script and everyone who participated was good and helped bring the story along. This movie is up there with He Got Game starring Denzel Washington and Ray Allen. This is a great movie for basketball and non-basketball fans to get an insight into recruiting and the strength not only physically but mentally needed to play this game.