Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed in this review are solely those of Marlon Wallace and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of WBOC.
There have been several films about basketball or basketball players. Normally, the film will simply find the best trained actors who also happen to play basketball, whether those actors are good players or not. From Hoosiers (1986), White Men Can’t Jump (1992) or Glory Road (2006), the concern is finding good actors first. Obviously, those actors need to play basketball and perform well, but movie magic can always find ways to fake it. For example, having Leonardo DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries (1995) was important because his performance for the emotional parts were crucial, more crucial than his physical performance on the basketball court.
There are some sports films like The Basketball Diaries that don’t lean too much on their depiction of the game in question. The Basketball Diaries was more about substance abuse and addiction more than it was about the game in its title. It was the same situation in The Way Back (2020), a film that centered on a high school basketball coach, played by Ben Affleck. Except, the film was as much about alcoholism as it was about depicting basketball play. In those instances, having a good, if not great actor like DiCaprio or Affleck is really make-or-break. Other films might lean the other way and be more about depicting the action on the court. The filmmakers in that case might want someone whose a good athlete first and foremost rather than being an actor first and foremost.
Adam Sandler (Grown Ups and Big Daddy) stars as Stanley Sugerman, a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers. He mostly travels to other countries, looking for recruits to his NBA team. His travels keep him away from his wife and teenage daughter, which frustrates him a lot. He’d rather have a steady job that keeps him closer to home. His dream is to be a coach for the 76ers. He used to play basketball himself when he was younger, but an incident from his past took him out the game. He still loves the sport. He’s particularly a fan of those who played for the 76ers, especially Julius “Dr. J” Erving, who guest stars in this film.
The owner of the 76ers needs a new recruit for the upcoming season. The start of the film is about a month or two before the NBA Draft, the spring-time presumably. The owner promises Stanley that if he can find a good recruit, then he can get the promotion he’s always wanted and become a coach, specifically an assistant coach for the team. Stanley searches without much luck until he ventures to Spain and happens upon a street game in Mallorca.
Juancho Hernangómez co-stars as Bo Cruz, a 22-year-old construction worker. He lives with his mother and daughter in Mallorca. He resides in an impoverished part of town, a veritable ghetto. He manages by hustling for cash on basketball courts. Bo is 6 feet, 9 inches, with a strong, muscular build. He certainly looks like he should be playing basketball, even if he wasn’t out on the courts, dribbling and taking the ball to the hoop. Hernangómez is a NBA player in real life. He currently plays for the Utah Jazz, but, at the time he shot this film he was playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Hernangómez is essentially playing himself, as his character is also from Spain. The only difference is his character’s family. In real life, Hernangómez comes from a line of athletes. Both his parents were basketball players. His older brother is also in the NBA and is taller than him, standing at 6 feet, 11 inches. Given his family background and the height of him and his brother, it’s almost obvious that he would enter into the sport. At the beginning of this film, Stanley almost scouts a guy nicknamed “Big Serbian,” played by Boban Marjanović, an actual NBA player who stands 7 feet, 3 inches. The average height of a NBA player is 6 feet, 6 inches, so anyone higher than that will catch a scout’s eye. It seems odd that Hernangómez’s character of Bo didn’t catch a scout’s eye sooner than Stanley’s random encounter.
The film, written by Taylor Materne and Will Fetters (A Star Is Born and The Lucky One), never really provides much insight into Bo’s head and his inner thoughts. The only time the film pauses to do so makes it about him missing his daughter when he leaves Spain to go with Stanley back to Philadelphia to train for the NBA Draft. Prior to that, the film suggests that his skills on the court diminish when he is offended by trash talk from other players. His arc becomes about learning to control his anger when it comes to trash talk because it resulted in his arrest in the past. It’s not clear if this arrest prevented other scouts from approaching Bo before Stanley did. It’s not clear because the film never provides us much insight into what Bo’s feelings or aspirations were about basketball before Stanley started following him.
Hernangómez does have a charm to him, but I’m not sure he has the chops beyond his physicality to give a more nuanced performance. Director Jeremiah Zagar who has mostly made documentaries throughout his career and We the Animals (2018), a film that focused on children, clearly has an ability to work with non-actors or newly formed actors to get good performances on screen. Zagar does so with Hernangómez but it’s not enough. The film doesn’t give enough to get us to care about Bo and whether or not he makes it to the NBA. It would be one thing if the story, surrounding Stanley were more engaging.
Sandler’s performance is such that one can see that Stanley can be a good coach. It’s where his passion is, as opposed to the drudgery that he experiences during his scouting expeditions to other countries. However, I wasn’t convinced as to why his passion or ability is any better or more intriguing than those we’ve seen in so many sports films. We just witnessed a more compelling story in the Oscar-winning King Richard (2021). Yes, that was a different sport with a different relationship between coach and athlete, but it gave us a more compelling narrative than the one here. There was a more compelling narrative and central character in films like Above the Rim (1994), Sunset Park (1996), He Got Game (1998), Coach Carter (2005) or even Boogie (2021).
Rated R for language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 58 mins.
Available on Netflix.
