Review of Sugar (2008) by Rolando G — 09 Sep 2009

"To America!".

"Sugar" tells the story of a Dominican born pitching prodigy that comes to America to find success in professional baseball but instead comes to question his providence. More a story of the immigrant experience in America than a traditional underdog tale such as Rudy and The Rookie, Sugar begins with certain predictability and ends with blazing originality. Miguel "Sugar" Santos has been groomed to pitch since childhood, being blessed with a million dollar flame-throwing arm and a healthy appetite for competition. He sometimes lets his emotions get the best of him, and it shows. Outwardly Sugar puts forth a potent combination of cockiness and shyness, at times manifesting a persona of a kid that seems ready to take on the world but doesn't have a clue what that means.

Getting offered a chance to play professional baseball, Sugar departs for America along with two teammates from the Dominican, Yankee stripes and Cathedral-like ballparks gleaming in their eyes. Unfamiliar wads of money from contracts are thrown into their hands but used sparingly and with the mentality that supporting family must come first before personal indulgences.

"Sugar" highlights the cultural adaptions one must undergo when conforming to a new culture a with striking rawness and unblinking sensibility. We find out that Dominican players take classes where they learn simple baseball phrases in English such as "I got it" and "Home-run." An amusing scene has Sugar and some additional newfound American Dominicans trying to order dinner at a restaurant. They speak almost no English, although one of the gang has been there for considerably longer and has managed to clearly order French toast. The others, deciding to parrot him in order to avoid the uncomfortable reality of not knowing a spot of English, unanimously sing "French toast!".

It is at the end of the 2nd act that "Sugar" begins to take flight. And this point the story has unfolded predictably but efficiently since the uniquely cultural opening act: Sugar gets to A Ball, dominates, gets forlorn and homesick, starts to slump, brings his failures off the field and into his personal life, yada yada yada. Filmmakers Fleck and Boden then throw the audience a curveball and send Sugar out into America for a culture experience independent of baseball; a quest spurred from Sugar's frustration of baseball and inkling to find out who he really is and what he is meant to do in this life.

Sugar's experiences in the film transcend the sports film into something much more personal, observant, and heartfelt. He is taken in by a pious and well-intentioned family in A Ball (although he shows not much interest in spirituality except as a customary tradition), has open affection for the family's daughter that is not scorned but also not reciprocated, and meets a carpenter in New York and develops a soft and unspoken friendship. It is in the last 20 minutes that "Sugar" finds greatness. The last shot is truly memorable for the emotion and reflection it conveys.

First time actor Algenis Perez Soto is remarkable as Sugar, giving a multi-layered and nuanced performance that never betrays the audience's vulnerability and affection. I have admired Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden since the release of their excellent Half Nelson. Their stories tend to revolve around displaced individuals and the consequences that come with leading unconventional lives. The photography is never stylized and never a character of its own, but instead reacts to the intricacies of the characters it depicts. To label Sugar a sports movie would be a disservice to the treasures of the human experience it portrays. "Sugar" is an honest film, an original film, and a moving testimony to an athletic journey that while all too prevalent and relevant, had yet to be given its due time and appreciation.

I whole-heartedly recommend this.

A-.