Hustle (2022)

After discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player with a rocky past abroad, a down on his luck basketball scout takes it upon himself to bring the phenom to the States without his team's approval. Against the odds, they have one final shot to prove they have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

3.5 / 5

INCLUVIE SCORE

4.0 / 5

MOVIE SCORE

Representation

Black

Josh Halpern

March 24, 2023

3.5 / 5

INCLUVIE SCORE

4 / 5

MOVIE SCORE

The Male Dominance of 'Hustle'

The sports movie genre is dominated by men. On the big screen, it is strictly guys filming guys playing baseball, basketball, etc, giving each other high fives and starting chants in the locker room. Women rarely get the limelight. There are exceptions, like A League of Their Own, Million Dollar Baby, and Bend it Like Beckham, but overall, female-driven sports pictures just don’t get made despite, what I would imagine, is a yearning fan base. I’d like to say Hustle is different, but it is not. There are certain pat conventions that persist here. Stereotypical roles like the supportive wife, the lusty love interest, or the cold rich heiress turned team owner are prevalent in sports pictures. In Hustle there is the supportive wife and daughter to Adam Sandler’s Stanley Sugerman, played by Queen Latifah and Jordan Hull respectively. I don’t mean to put down Queen Latifah’s role. She delivers a warm and sincere performance and it should not be overlooked that this is an interracial marriage portrayed on-screen, and an interracial daughter comes out of that bond. This is nice to see, but it doesn’t negate the fact that these are overly-simplified roles that serve very minor purposes in the film. Hustle

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