How Adam Sandler Used Hustle To Pay Tribute To His Late Father
Every 1,000 years or so, Adam Sandler seems to develop an itch to go off and make a movie with an auteur director (or directors in the case of the Safdie Brothers), giving rise to such critically-acclaimed films as "Punch-Drunk Love," "The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)," and "Uncut Gems." But as much as we cinephiles like to drag the Sandman for all the disposable movies he makes in-between, that doesn't mean they're devoid of personal meaning to him. No, not even "Grown Ups 2."
Sandler's 2022 offering to the Netflix gods, "Hustle," acts as an olive branch from his Happy Madison Productions label to the fans of his rare high art projects. The movie casts Sandler as Stanley Sugerman, a brusque, bearded scout for the Philadelphia 76ers who's eager to land a desk job and finally get off the road. He gets a shot to do just that when he finds Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangómez), a potential future NBA superstar who's barely making ends meet hustling streetball players in Spain. "Hustle," as /Film's Chris Evangelista points out in his review, embraces "some of the worst instincts of Sandler's comedies." Yet, despite that caveat, it still works thanks to its style — which mixes visual realism with flashy, creative editing — and a lived-in performance by Sandler that comes across as a more grounded and mature spin on his typical man-child persona.
Speaking at "Happy Sad Confused" podcast host Josh Horowitz's live Q&A after a screening of "Hustle" in New York, the Sandman commented on the significance of his character's name in the film. "I always wanted to be a Stanley," said Sandler. "It's my dad's name." When Horowitz asked if that was always the case in the movie's script, Sandler clarified, "No, no, I changed it to that."
'He was just a great guy'
It wasn't just his character's name in "Hustle" that allowed Adam Sandler to pay tribute to his late father in the film. "This guy Stanley Sugerman I played reminded me a lot of my dad and the way he was. Just kind of like a hard-working good person who was always pulling for you," Sandler explained. He continued to praise his father, revealing that he was as much a mentor to a young Sandler as he was to his son's friends growing up. In typical Sandman fashion, of course, Sandler also lovingly poked fun at his father's looks (which the multi-hyphenate honored with his own appearance in "Hustle"):
"My father, he was dedicated to me, he was dedicated to all my friends about helping them, teaching them golf, baseball, basketball. He was just a great guy. He passed away almost 20 years ago now. It felt good to use his name and grow a beard, 'cause my dad had a beard growing up and when he didn't have a beard he looked terrible."
For years now, Sandler had similarly saluted his father with the logo for Happy Madison Productions, a company that merges the titles of the actor's '90s vehicles "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore." The company's title card features a screen being cracked by a golf ball, along with a photo in the likeness of Sandler's father's commenting, "Terrific." Speaking at the Q&A, Sandler confirmed it's really his voice and not that of his father, but it's a touching gesture all the same.
If nothing else, that goes to show Sandler's loved ones are never all that far from his mind when he's making his movies — not even the ones we film buffs could, put gently, do without.