Adam Sandler's film on Netflix makes everyone a schoolboy

Adam Sandler once again breaks his own records, this time thanks to the "attrition" on Netflix - a basketball movie whose script is a writing school.

And what about the veteran star's game display?

Every basketball player would have died to be a winner like him

Avner Shavit

14/06/2022

Tuesday, June 14, 2022, 00:00

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Trailer for the movie "The Erosion" (Netflix)

Star rating for movies - 3.5 stars (Photo: Image Processing,.)

Say what you will about Netflix, but for Adam Sandler it does well.

Since the star began collaborating with them, this has led to several climactic moments.

"Mystery of Murder" came out in 2019 and was recorded as the most popular movie of the streaming service that year;

"Unpolished Diamonds" came up a year later and is listed as one of the most talked about and acclaimed films of the beginning of the decade;

And this past weekend came the basketball drama "The Hustle," which at least according to the problematic but viral aggregator of critics grumbles Tomtoz, is the most esteemed film the actor has ever starred in.

Sandler is not the only big name associated with the project: it was produced by Baron James, who has recently been making headlines as a cinematic anchor rather than an active basketball player.

However, his real protagonists are for me the pair of screenwriters who wrote it - Will Peters, who was also responsible for the new and effective adaptation of "A Star Is Born", and Taylor Materna.

Their script is a writing school, and if anyone wants to learn how to build characters, shape conflicts, evoke empathy and tell a story - he has an excellent model here.

This is the kind of scripts that have an answer to every question.

Who is the hero?

A scout named Stanley, played by Sandler, who works for the Sixers, the Philadelphia NBA team, and is looking for talent around the world for her.

What is bothering him?

That he is never home, so among other things he missed his daughter's last nine birthday parties.

what does he want?

Move to the training bench, a job that will allow him to be a better dad, rest more and get a little more appreciation.

What does he need for this?

To succeed in one last scouting task - to find somewhere in the globe the missing piece that might bring the team the championship it has been looking for for thirty years.

More on Walla!

"The movie scene is white and judgmental. I'll fight it as long as I'm around."

To the full article

Each question has an answer.

From "The Erosion" (Photo: Netflix)

This piece is revealed as a Spanish basketball player named Bo Cruz, whom he discovers in a neighborhood game.

Stanley immediately realizes that this is exactly the bargain he was looking for - an actor he defines as "a combination of Scotty Pippin and Wolf" (for those who only understand Netflix and not basketball, it's like saying "a combination of 'weird stuff' and 'squid game'").

Here comes another element that every script needs - the obstacles.

First hurdle: Since the American Scout found the Spanish jewel on the street, no one believes it, and Stanley has to take it as a personal project and even pay all the expenses.

Second obstacle: it turns out that a type is sensitive, vulnerable, hot-tempered and prone to disaster, which also hides skeletons in the closet.

Additional obstacles come in the form of antagonists.

One of them is the arrogant heir who has no idea about basketball, but got the ownership of the Sixers because he was born to the right person, and out of those feelings of inferiority he enjoys cutting off Stanley's wings.

The other is a young American basketball player in this case, who competes with Bo for the same slot, recognizes that his problem is mental and unprofessional, and attacks him with relentless psychological warfare.

The script also does a good job of conveying information.

Just as an example: A critical figure for the plot is an installation whereby a non-American player over the age of 22 cannot be selected in the NBA Draft.

It's a technical detail, but the film finds a way to make it accessible from the beginning, in an organic and unforced way, which is presented to us not as a piece of information, but as a light and funny situation.

Stanley Cup.

From "The Erosion" (Photo: Netflix)

There is not much external logic in the script - it is not based on a true story, and it is likely that what happens in it will never happen in reality.

This is how it is: Hollywood movies usually ask us to believe in miracles.

What matters is, that there be internal logic, and that's what it's here.

The "abrasion" takes care of closing all the edges and corners, and eventually all the circles as well.

These are all questions of technique, but what about some depth?

Well, the script has added value.

On the one hand, like the "Rocky" and "Creed" films, it expresses the spirit, culture and language of Philadelphia, a city that is a world in its entirety.

On the other hand, it also expresses the globalization that the NBA has undergone in the last two decades.

We've seen a lot of American basketball hits before, but this is one of the first to deal with European basketball, and not a young man from college.

Aside from basketball, it's also a movie about fatherhood.

Both Stanley and his heart have parenting complexes.

The American scout is tormented by the fact that he has neglected his daughter, and the Spanish basketball player by the fact that his father has abandoned him, and their stories are reflected in each other, until they provide each other with redemption from the common torments.

Of course even a perfect script can be ruined at the execution stage, but "Erosion" plays it, and upgrades it.

Adam Sandler, as usual, manages to evoke complete identification with the protagonist.

Ben Foster, on the other hand, is educated to arouse disgust towards his main opponent - the same failed privilege that inherits the team and insists on killing him.

His character is so annoying that we feel like throwing basketball on the screen, and that's exactly the intention.

When "Rocky" met "Jerry Maguire".

From "The Erosion" (Photo: Netflix)

The young Spaniard is played by Juanco Hernandez, an NBA basketball player in reality, in his first film appearance.

Many basketball players before him, including Michael Jordan and in his own honor, have had a hard time convincing on the big screen, but he does it well.

Beyond that, there are also a long line of good supporting actresses: Kevin Latifa as the protagonist's partner;

Heidi Gardner as the much more successful sister of the regent;

And Robert Duvall who emerges for a few minutes as their father.

In addition, the film has a glorious and never-ending parade of present and past NBA players playing themselves or other characters: Dr. J., Shaquille O'Neal, Tobias Harris, Charles Berkeley, Brad Stevens and Doc Rivers are just some of

the names.

All of this is navigated by Jeremiah Zager, who also excels in scenes on the floor, and he illustrates well that thanks to the physicality and rhythm that it has, basketball is one of the most cinematic sports there is.

We've seen a lot of basketball movies before, but most of them did not have what the "attrition" had, they did not have such a good script and they did not have Adam Sandler.

Funny to think how much they despised him, killed him and eulogized him throughout his career.

At 55, his status is higher than ever, critically and commercially.

Every basketball player would dream of being a winner like him.

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Tags

• Adam Sandler

• Netflix

• NBA

• Philadelphia 76 '

• Dr. J.

• Ben Foster

• Robert Duvall