Review of Searching for Sugar Man (2012) by Jonathan B — 10 Mar 2013
Just the idea of an unknown American folk singer becoming a cultural phenomenon halfway around the world is too bizarre, too unbelievable to be true, and yet it actually happened. A quick recap: Rodriguez released two albums in the early 1970s.
They got a little critical acclaim but didn't sell a lick, so the label dropped him and he quickly faded into obscurity. A handful of years later a bootleg copy of his first record made its way to South Africa, spread like wildfire, and his two albums would go on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies there, making him more popular than the likes of Elvis.
The even stranger thing is no one knew absolutely anything about the man, and rumors were rampant on how he killed himself onstage at his final show. Searching for Sugar Man is about a South African journalist and record shop owner who try to find out the real story, and without ruining anything what transpires is truly incredible and nearly impossible not to get caught up in.
Sugar Man is one of the best documentaries of the last few years and well worth searching out.
This review of Searching for Sugar Man (2012) was written by Jonathan B on 10 Mar 2013.
Searching for Sugar Man has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
