Review of Sugar (2008) by Janine-Marie P — 18 May 2009

I'm being too hard on this film--its worst sin is that it's simply dull, a predictable story we've all heard before. But in my eyes, Boden and Fleck have quickly established themselves among the most overrated of American indie directors.

Their previous feature, "Half Nelson," was anchored by Ryan Gosling's good performance, but it's too modest to warrant the attention it won. This film suffers not only from being overly familiar; it's also devoid of any interesting performances.

Perez Soto is perfectly serviceable in the lead, but he's also not asked to do anything other than look perpetually pensive in the face of a foreign culture. Shocking, no? And I should probably just keep my mouth shut about this, but his pitching motion is too stiff to really belong to a hot prospect.

Granted, his stuff falls apart and he ultimately walks away from his chance at making it to the Show, but it's little details like these that make it extremely difficult to produce a credible film about sports.

Boden and Fleck also seem completely devoid of their own aesthetic. The camera moves more than it needs to, here, and other than the taint of a superficial social consciousness, I see no intriguing signs of directorial obsession.