After being fired, pro basketball scout, Stanley Beren, is excited, for the first time in a very long while, when he serendipitously discovers Spanish amateur baller, Bo Cruz, playing in a park outside Madrid. Fueled with new-found purpose, Stanley makes it his mission to groom Bo for the NBA as he believes they both can make it.... (Full plot summary below)
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After being fired, pro basketball scout, Stanley Beren, is excited, for the first time in a very long while, when he serendipitously discovers Spanish amateur baller, Bo Cruz, playing in a park outside Madrid. Fueled with new-found purpose, Stanley makes it his mission to groom Bo for the NBA as he believes they both can make it.
Leave your thoughts about Hustle.
| Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattSandler and Hernangomez have a sweet, goofy chemistry, somewhere between razzing and familial, and the on-court sequences are consistently electric. Hustle isn't reinventing the sports-story wheel; it's hardly even spinning it forward. But in the moment, they're having a ball. |
| New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriHustle works, and it works beautifully, thanks to Sandler’s commitment. |
| The Associated PressJake CoyleThe film, directed by Jeremiah Zagar, isn’t the farce you might expect. Rather, it’s one of the most textured and affectionate films about basketball that’s come along in a long time. Starring Sandler as a road-weary NBA scout and with several teams’ worth of all-stars in cameos, Hustle has a surprisingly good handle and feel for the game. |
| RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyIf Hustle passes around a lot of sports movie cliches, it does so with a light touch. And its sense of atmosphere, and depiction of Stanley’s milieu, is sensitive and knowing, But be warned: this movie is VERY basketball-oriented. If you’re not a fan, you might feel a little lost. |
| Vanity FairRichard LawsonIt’s a rare treat these days to see Latifah in a movie (you can see her on TV on The Equalizer); perhaps we have Sandler to thank for this welcome, if brief, return. I’d gladly watch the pair in another project together. |
| UproxxVince ManciniA few sour notes aside, Hustle is a solidly compelling, surprisingly watchable basketball movie. |
| ColliderRoss BonaimeHustle isn't breaking the mold of what a sports film can be, but it is yet another reminder of Sandler's gifts as a dramatic actor through an extremely charming and compelling story about a mentor trying to help another reach their potential. |
| The PlaylistMarshall ShafferThere’s enough craft and heart involved in “Hustle” to keep it from feeling like just a league PSA or an algorithmically crafted Netflix product. Those elements go a long way, but solid execution can only take a well-worn playbook so far. |
| The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzThere is something undeniably charming about the film in spite of itself, its familiar but pleasant narrative momentum and tense on-court action wrapped around a lovably scruffy lead performance from a man who knows how to turn it on when he wants to. |
| ABC NewsPeter TraversIt’s always a slam dunk when Adam Sandler drops his doofus routine and really acts. And here, as a basketball scout who yearns to coach, he infuses every frame of this formulaic crowd-pleaser with a real-deal love of the game. Hot damn! We have a winner. |
