We’ve all seen Adam Sandler in his element, goofy movies with strung-along plot lines that make some great comfort films and soft watches. “Bedtime Stories”, “Hotel Transylvania” and “The Wedding Singer”, were all great comedies, landing him 4 Teen Choice Awards and 4 Kids’ Choice Awards. And as evident from the recent “Dress Like Adam Sandler Day” at school he is still relevant, especially among teens and young adults. So when cast in “Uncut Gems” (2019) a rated R drama with Adam Sandler as the lead actor promising the harsh realities of life, most viewers couldn’t even imagine taking Adam Sandler seriously. You mean the guy who’s in Billy Madison? Yeah right. But despite this, Sandler crushed it with an amazing performance, a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead of 2020. But have we been blinded by his humor and charisma? Is Adam Sandler really a good actor? I watched the new drama, Hustle to answer this question.

We start off with Stanley Sugarman (Adam Sandler) guzzling down fast food with less than subtle product placement. Sugarman is a basketball scout for the Philadelphia 76ers, watching mediocre applicant after fraudulent applicant. Whether hogging the ball or scampering around the court, Stanley hasn’t seen an NBA worthy player on his latest travels. He says so, stating his case on a player he doesn’t believe has the right motivations for the team, the son of Rex (owner of the team), Vin, refutes this as Stanley reluctantly backs down. Rex sees this lack of retaliation, something he was hired for as a scout and gives him the assistant coach position. Sugarman is ecstatic to stop traveling and finally return to the court, no longer missing events with his wife, Theresa and his daughter, Alex. The next day Rex unexpectedly dies, making Vin the new owner and operator of the 76ers. Vin, with an obvious aversion to Stanley, strips him of his new position, stating he needs to find one star player before he can return. Sugarman detests this strongly before eventually giving in, requiring Vin stay true to this agreement. Stanley is then shipped off to Spain to watch yet another applicant, he sees this blunder of a player and leaves. 

He finds himself watching a street basketball game mesmerized by the tall defensive competitor, Bo Cruz. Unlike many of the aforementioned applicants he doesn’t monopolize the ball and passes to his teammates when needed. Stanley sees his potential however, when he contacts Vin, it is made clear that Bo is not an authorized candidate. Stanley, desperate to have his coaching job back and to have Bo compete for his team, he ignores Vin’s apprehension and brings Bo to America to train him and convince Vin to add him to the team. The rest of the movie is the trial and error of throwing Bo in with the top competitors. 

Overall the film was amazing, I am not a sports fan myself, and know little about basketball but I was enthralled in the story and the characters. When it came to the games, they explained it gracefully, not boring the enthusiasts but clarifying important details to newcomers. And as for Adam Sandler’s performance, it was astounding. The only thing I didn’t like was the lack of detail of his character. I wanted more out of his backstory and disposition. The film was realistic but enjoyable. After watching it, I looked up whether or not it was based in reality, and surprisingly it was entirely fictional. In conclusion, I believe Adam Sandler is a great actor and should be treated with more respect in reference to his career.