Jeremiah Zagar’s Hustle is a great sports drama. Led by Adam Sandler and featuring real NBA star Juancho Hernangomez, the Netflix movie tells the story of a Spanish street basketball player who tries to become professional.
It’s really a moving flick. Adam Sandler proves he’s a much better actor than his lame comedies, while Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Kenny Smith, and Robert Duvall add quality to the cast.
Although a bit predictable at the end, Hustle is pretty well-played in telling the underdog story. Sandler’s Stanley Sugerman is a former ball player, a talented one, but his career is cut short too soon. Later Stanley becomes a scout with a terrific eye for talent. He’s put in a position to find the next big thing for the Philadelphia 76ers if he wants to get promoted to a coach.
If you liked Hustle, we advise you to try these few excellent sports dramas as well:
Chariots of Fire
Based on a true story and winning an Academy Award, Chariots of Fire is a powerful storytelling piece about two famous British Olympic runners. Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams try hard to balance their performance as athletes and personal beliefs. One of the movie’s most famous scenes is the one at the beach. Accompanied by Vangelis’ music, it’s pretty iconic, really.
Field of Dreams
“If you build it, they will come” – you’ve probably heard this cult movie quite, right? It’s from Phil Alden Robinson’s famous sports drama Field of Dreams. Here we see Kevin Costner in the lead role while everything revolves around America’s favorite sport – baseball. One of the movie’s significant goals is to make you remember that second chances are genuine and also important.
The Blind Side
We watch the beautiful Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side – a remarkable story about a homeless boy who dreams big of becoming a professional football player. It’s a lot like Hustle. With the help of Leigh Anne Tuohy – a caring woman who believes in him, Michael Oher walks the way to a first-round draft pick in the NFL. Here’s an interesting fact – Oher once admitted he doesn’t actually like The Blind Side.
Remember the Titans
We move to another football classic in movie history – Remember the Titans. It’s one of Denzel Washington’s memorable roles as well. Here we see the multiple Oscar winner as a football high school coach who tries hard to turn his players into winners – something most people doubt he could do. Directed by Boaz Yakin, it’s one of the most wonderful sports dramas of all time.
Coach Carter
The movie was released in 2005 and quickly became a sports classic. In Coach Carter, we see the great Samuel L. Jackson as the real person Ken Carter – a Richmond High School basketball coach who got famous in 1999 for suspending his players because of poor academic results. The more important thing is that Ken Carter’s story was told – it was a good story and something more coaches should do.
The Fighter
Rocky is not the only boxing movie we can consider amazing, right? Not at all. Directed by David O. Russell, this flick stars some huge names such as Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg. It gets us to meet Micky Ward – a talented boxer trying to escape his older brother’s shadow. The movie focuses on the relationship between Micky and Dicky Eklund, which goes through highs and lows.
Facing the Giants
When you create a movie with just a $100,000 budget and make more than 10 million at the box office, it should tell you one thing – this movie is something. Can a struggling football coach change his team’s fortunes with the Lord’s help? Well, maybe. Written and directed by Alex Kendrick, who also stars in it, the film tells a classic underdog movie from a Christian perspective.
We Are Marshall
We Are Marshall is another fantastic sports movie based on a true story. It’s inspired by a tragic event – the infamous 1970 plane crash involving the Marshall University football team. Far from surprising, but Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey is outstanding in his acting. At the same time, the whole movie just fills you with emotion.
Invictus
When you have Clint Eastwood as director and Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in the lead roles, you can’t make a mistake – Invictus is a must-watch. Here we watch the legendary Freeman as the no less famous South African politician Nelson Mandela. It tells how Mandela managed to inspire his country’s rugby team in a challenging, post-apartheid era. It’s not just a sports movie, but also a tale about one of the most respected politicians in Mankind’s history.
Moneyball
In Moneyball, we see Brad Pitt as Billy Beane – a basketball general manager who takes a different approach to sign new players for the Oakland Athletics. Beane tries to build a competitive team with a very tight budget. What he and his assistant Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) do is sign players based on empirical analysis and statistics. It’s directed by Bennett Miller, and it’s truly a fantastic movie.
So, these are some fantastic sports dramas such as Hustle. Have you watched them all?
Photo: Scott Yamano/Netflix