Netflix’s #1 Top Ten Movie, Adam Sandler’s Hustle, Is Reviewing Shockingly Well

Netflix has been hitting pretty hard in the TV department lately with fantastic new seasons of Ozark and Stranger Things, but it has long struggled in its original movie department, and usually the Netflix productions you see topping their top ten list are…less than great. That includes the recently panned Interceptor, the action film that was #1 the past week. Now? It’s a different movie on top, Adam Sandler’s Hustle.

And it’s reviewing very, very well.

Hustle currently has a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes with over 100 reviews, and 91% from audiences. In part, this may be due to the fact that this is an Adam Sandler dramatic venture, rather than an Adam Sandler comedy. Sandler has long been a low key great dramatic actor, all the way back to Punch Drunk Love, and more recently with Uncut Gems. Hustle is actually matching Uncut Gems’ 92% score, but is wildly above its 52% audience score.

So what is Hustle, anyway? Here’s the synopsis:

“Stanley Sugerman’s (Adam Sandler) love for basketball is unparalleled, but the travel weary Philadelphia 76ers scout who has higher ambitions of being a coach remains stuck on the road looking for the next unknown talent. His search around the world leads him to Spain, when he discovers Bo Cruz (NBA player Juancho Hernangómez), an incredible streetball player with a troubled past. Stanley and Bo connect on and off the court, with their passion for the game and as loving family men who want to prove they can win, in basketball and in life. With the support of Stanley’s wife, Teresa (Queen Latifah), can the underdogs come out on top?”

Yes, his co-star is an actual NBA player Juancho Hernangómez, and LeBron James appears in the film as well. Critics are praising Sandler’s performance (one credits him with “dropping his doofus routine”), and even if it’s a fairly routine story, it’s one told very well. Hustle is directed by Jeremiah Zagar, who I haven’t heard of, and interestingly, the script is co-written by Taylor Materne, who wrote some of the story modes for recent NBA 2K games.

All of this adds up to one of Adam Sandler’s best-reviewed movies ever and a bonafide critical hit for Netflix, again, something that does not happen in the film department very often. This one deserves to be on the top of chart, it seems. We’ll see how long It stays there.

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