In "Hustle," Adam Sandler plays an NBA scout named Stanley Sugerman, which makes it sound like one of those movies where Sandler plays a buffoon who inherits a basketball team from his father and then wins the NBA Finals with a team that consists of himself, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Chris Rock and Shaq.
In reality, "Hustle" is a straightforward sports drama with some comedic elements, and it lands somewhat left of "Uncut Gems" but far right from "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore" on the Sandler Scale of Seriousness. It plays out in rather typical sports movie fashion, so maybe it wouldn't have been a bad thing if Sandler crazied it up a notch or two.
Sugerman is a lifer with the Philadelphia 76ers — LeBron James is a producer on the project, which may have helped secure rights to real NBA teams and players — who is getting bumped up to the role of assistant coach after many years spent out on the road scouting. But when team owner Rex Merrick (Robert Duvall) suddenly dies, his son Vince (Ben Foster) demotes Sugerman and puts him back in the field to find the key to the team's next championship.
