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While the highlights of Hustle for most Deacon enthusiasts will be his straight electronica ramblings, the composer did record some minimal string and brass layers with members of the London Contemporary Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. These passages are fleeting, however, solo violin drama in atonal orchestral crescendos during "Oak Tree" and "Never Back Down" failing to emote and the one solely organic cue of the score, "Like I Was Not Even Here," too short to sustain a mood or motif. In Deacon's wheelhouse, the piano and synthetics try at times to connect with vintage Vangelis inspiration, but the result is often shallow. The only theme of the score isn't original to it, sadly, dating back to the song "Become a Mountain" from Deacon's 2020 album, "Mystic Familiar." Not really a theme, per se, this series of four chord progressions is the highlight of the score, "Already Dead" the most obvious adaptation but the better performances coming in the upbeat "Run Up Hill Win" and "Run Up Hill Fail," the former throwing a bloated fake choir over the keyboards and drums. A little quirkier rendition of this idea returns nicely in "Coaching Moment," with lighter percussion. Moments that could build upon this motif don't always do so, Deacon content to reduce the idea to straight rhythmic ambience with piano and synths in "Combine" and "Bo Boards Bus." These propulsive cues drone on key, and the lack of changing chords or keys reduces the overall effect. In this regard, Patrick Doyle's superbly intimate rhythmic sports score La Ligne Droite is leagues beyond Deacon's material. Outside of the purely rambling rhythmic portions of Hustle, the work is largely anonymous and minimally workmanlike. The wilder percussion of "Streetball" works well as an appropriately unrefined alternative to the rest of the score's rhythms. Deacon sometimes fails to hit the right emotional tone of certain scenes, the terrible dissonance of "Bo vs Kermit Pt 1" and overplayed force in "Streetball One on One" both just loud and inelegant. Likewise, the fake choir over strings is hazy in "Best Month" while "Coaching Debut Pt 1 & Pt 2" is too ambient to be inspirational or redemptive. Ultimately, the best parts of the Hustle score are derivatives of his "Become a Mountain" composition from a few years earlier. The remainder of the work is basically sufficient but doesn't convey any satisfying narrative. It's a work based upon rhythm rather than story, and both were needed here. The album release by Netflix is unsubstantial and is missing all of the vital hip-hop songs that would have been necessary to form a truly coherent soundtrack for this film. Unless you have danced wildly to one of Deacon's performances of "Become a Mountain" in the past, don't expect this score to connect.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Total Time: 33:53