'You are valuable as a coach... you are indispensable as a scout'
Hustle 7.5
SPOILERS
Adam Sandler plays Stanley, a talent scout for an NBA team who is promoted to assistant coach under his kindly mentor, who is clearly too old for the game. When his more cutthroat son Vincent, played by Ben Foster, takes over the business, he's told he is valuable as a coach, but indispensable as a scout, if he finds one top player, he gets to be a coach for good. But of course Vincent doesn't want him to stop scouting, no matter who he finds. The two don't get along, Vincent looks down on him after they disagreed on a promising young player, the 'german MJ'.
The scene where they talk about that is pretty telling, Sandler clearly values the commitment, as his mentor does, but the son is spoilt and interested mostly in success. The theme's been done many times before where the old school father is respectful and son isn't - most notably Gladiator - in fact as soon as Sandler is given asst. coach it was fairly clear what was going to happen.. Duvall dies or retires, Sandler expects promotion, passed over for boss's son who doesn't like him, Sandler must fight to regain his stature.. all is similar to the start of Gladiator's plot.
Stanley is proven right on the German MJ, which isn't a good thing as it backs up how important he is as a scout and perhaps nothing more. He now feels he has to prove himself and find an all-star but is there much chance Vincent will keep his word anyway?
All of this builds a good introduction overall.
I have said before in other reviews that alot of modern films start well, finish ok and sag the middle, but this one didn't really have that problem. The pace was good throughout and the stakes kept getting higher through different revelations. In the end higher forces (Vincent's sister) out of nowhere got him to where he wants, I thought that was the right ending for Stanley but actually a slightly weak conclusion writing-wise. Since his fued with Vincent was never really resolved, I found the whole journey good fun but with regards to Vincent slightly inconsequential and his emotional character arc slightly inconclusive. He was rescued, it wasn't particularly empowering.
I noticed some nice filmmaking moments at the start. A very nice shot from Stanley's POV zooming into the basketball court, as if he, and we, are being dropped into this world. Another nice one of the garage opening from inside, revealing a bright image in the darkness, centre of frame. I liked the shot towards the end of them going up in the lift, to the top level, literally and metaphorically. Filmmaking that takes care in these smaller, less significant transition shots makes a difference, even if there isn't much technical prowess shown elsewhere, but there are some other well filmed moments, especially when characters are digging deep.
Not all worked so well though. The street game in Spain was interesting but, to be picky, the filming looked a bit OTT, it somehow felt like something out of Fast and Furious. And we see an interesting motivational speech from Stan after the kid chokes, again a bit OTT, especially with the emotional music I thought. The soundtrack uses alot of hip hop answell as instrumental inspirational music, which reminded me of those great YouTube videos of 'Best Sporting Moments of the Century' etc.
For a sports drama it isn't above using the cliches of the genre, which is both a weakness and strength. There is the obligatory training montage getting the kid in shape (even with a shameless mention of Rocky - the film that popularised them) although this one is on steroids. It goes on a while with lots of cuts, it ends up looking like an extended trailer for the film. The Spanish kid is shown to have a short fuse and a lack of focus. He is more taken with living the life of luxury than potentially being given a life changing opportunity. That is the real challenge that Stanley faces, to get him mentally in shape. The kid does well then falters, then ends up bringing it home - in the classic sports film way. We even saw him off at the airport then went and got him again last minute, one of the the most cliche of cliches. I wonder if they filmed a scene of him chasing him down before flying off - but decided to leave it out to cut down on the cheese - if so, it was a good decision.
As always there are things that just weren't needed, like an attempted motif of technology moving the world on, but it didn't really amount to anything of any heft. Sandler's wife was struggling with technology when we first see her in person, using YouTube to whip up some publicity and significantly the first time we see Ben Foster as boss he is on his phone ignoring Sandler, something his dad would never have done. Also there was the theme of fatherhood. They briefly mention Bo's father not being around in Spain, and clearly Sandler feels like he has to parent him (you can imagine Stanley the type who always wanted a boy himself) and in a way he does, when 'bringing him up' into LA life. Plus Bo himself is depressed without his daughter - but that wasn't mentioned, and didn't seem to kick in, until he had been there a long while, so to have had that in the script beforehand would have improved continuity for me. On the other hand though the final scene was a nice touch, with Stanley being the assistant coach of his beloved 76ers, but his rare find Bo Cruz playing for the opposing team, the two greet each other like old friends before the game, but the coach still has a job to do, his adopted son has well and truly flown the nest.
The cast are on the whole very good. It's always nice to see a legend like Robert Duvall popping up, and Ben Foster as his son has been very good and intimidating in a couple of things I've seen him in, in this he uses the classic menacing look of beard and shaved head so we expect he's not to be trusted. Bo is played by a real Spanish Basketball player, although it isn't quite bad acting, it is wooden and lacking chemistry with any other character, it is up to Sandler to make the relationship watchable, which i think he just about does. It took decades of middling to ridiculous comedies but Sandler, with the help of Paul Thomas Anderson, has carved himself out a nice little niche in the actors market. He seems perfectly suited to playing erratic men who are a bit lost in the world, in over their head, desperate and under pressure but with good intentions. PTA noticed this and cast him as such in Punch Drunk Love, which revealed his hidden depths to the world. Years later, Uncut Gems came along, his characters in Gems and Hustle have alot in common. Mainly that they are both dedicated to the point of nearly obsessed hence take unnecessary risks by underestimating how dangerous their situation will become if they don't take care. I have noticed that in those 3 films the camera spends alot of time close into Sandler's face, which is a compliment to an actor's expressiveness and helps the audience keep seeing things through his perspective, we really feel what he feels. He has a knack of looking anxious through confident expressions, it's quite a gift.
It was very enjoyable, pretty well made and acted, and better than expected, mainly down to the look of it and the tried and tested structure of sports dramas. It's not going to live long in the memory, or become a classic of the genre, but was well worth 2 hours.
Comentários