An excellent Adam Sandler stars in a sports drama that does not innovate, but entertains and moves with great effectiveness.
(Available on Netflix)
As I did recently with Rough diamonds, Adam Sandler continues to shine every time he decides to make a movie outside of his usual comedic comfort zone, leading a strong movie about two men who live for basketball and seek, each in their own way, but working together, to fulfill their dreams through the sport.
Claw follows Stanley Sugerman (Sandler), a recruiter who works for the Philadelphia 76ers, and on a trip to Spain he discovers Bo (played by NBA player Juancho Hernangomez) a young bricklayer who shows an impressive talent for the sport. Captivated, Stanley decides to take the young man to the United States and try to find him a place in the NBA.
Anyone who has ever seen a sports drama film can predict without much fear of being wrong how the film will unfold, so those who seek to be surprised by the cinema they see should perhaps refrain from this new production from the creator of Happy Gilmore.
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But those who can forgive how predictable this film can be will find it a warm and moving drama with an interesting and immediately endearing duo of characters at its center.
Sandler getting better
Sandler plays Sugerman with a fascinating mix of undeniable charisma and soul-weariness that only deepens once his past and the source of his motivations are clarified, mirroring what drives Bo very elegantly. Like the best sports dramas, the sport is just a catalyst for a human story, in this case one of redemption and fulfillment.
And beyond that, it’s hard to ignore how simply likable Sandler is in the film and how easy it is to empathize with Stanley, from the first moments we see him from plane to plane, from court to court, looking for players in Europe. and eating fast food in hotels, and the way his efforts to get Bo to America are born first of professional ambition and gradually become a deeply personal goal.
And Hernangómez, who is a basketball player and not an actor, manages well as the talented but somewhat naive Bo, who also carries his mistakes on his shoulder and has a very specific goal beyond his love of basketball.
If the film does not deviate much from the usual script of sports films of this type, perhaps it is because it understands perfectly that there are few things as fundamentally cinematic as a good montage of scenes in which the protagonist throws himself into a hard training and gradually improves. until you reach the point where your physical and mental strength are at their peak. In that sense, Claw complies.
And although it is well accessible to all audiences, it is easy to imagine that the film would be a special joy for viewers who are fans of the NBA, since it constantly parades figures from the present and past of the American league, from current young talents – as themselves or fictional characters – or legends such as Charles Barkley or Shaquille O’Neal.
As a personal drama and as a sports odyssey, Claw there is no waste.
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CLAW
Original title: Hustle
Directed by Jeremiah Zagar
Written by Will Fetters y Taylor Materne
Produced by Maverick Carter, LeBron James, Jeff Kirschenbaum, Joe Roth y Zack Roth
edit by Tom Costain, Keiko Deguchi y Brian Robinson
Direction of photography by Zak Mulligan
soundtrack composed by Dan Deacon
List: Adam Sandler, Juancho Hernangomez, Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Robert Duvall, Jordan Hull, Anthony Edwards, Kenny Smith, Maria Botto, Heidi Gardner, Jaleel White, Julius Erving
