Movie Review: Hustle

 

Commenting on the lack of surprises present in Netflix's new sports drama Hustle is like complaining about how many massive balloons appear at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The adversity that sets up the conflict in underdog sports stories always involves some kind of melodramatic issues with family, addiction or some major mistake from the past continuing to burden a character in the present (Hustle is only missing the addiction angle) and the ending is a feel-good triumph where an individual or team accomplishes their goals. Sticking to the playbook that any regular viewer of sports dramas in any of the past 4 decades knows by heart at this point in time may limit the heights Hustle is able to reach on the overall quality scale, but it's still able to find plenty of success within this well-worn classic framework that we don't see utilized as much these days.

What gives Hustle the heart and soul it needs to fulfil its storytelling objectives is its cast. Everything on the technical and storytelling ends of Hustle save for the horrendous Bohemian Rhapsody-esque frantic editing is so plain that it's not really making much of an impact one way or the other on the overall product, which puts the actors in a precarious spot where they have to do all of the heavy lifting themselves. Fortunately, the brain trust of Hustle assembled a group that was more than up to the challenge of shining brightly enough to carry an entire movie on their backs.

Let me be clear: These performances aren't the type of acting achievements that will go on to create awards buzz or be cited as a top highlight in any of the non-athlete's acting careers. What they do pull off however is something that's still pretty extraordinary: they help create a level of emotional investment in what is effectively a collection of stock character archetypes- which include Adam Sandler's washed-up pro scout/coach for the 76ers, Juancho Hernangomez's talented, but hot-headed streetball player who is trying to fight his way into the NBA, Ben Foster's smug, clueless 2nd generation sports owner and Anthony Edwards' arrogant hotshot prospect who becomes the rival of Hernangomez's character during the pre-draft process-that wouldn't have been there if they were in less spirited hands. You have a sincere desire to see the heroes succeed, the villains be toppled and the long, painful road to the top of the mountain be conquered, which is really all a movie like Hustle needs to do to execute its gameplan. There's already been several movies released this year (and there will surely be several more) that have better overall performances, but Hustle is going to be at or near the top of the list of movies where the believability and humanity behind the acting made the biggest impact on the overall product.      

Grade: B