Review of Sugar Sweet (2001) by Robert B — 04 Jul 2012

Sugar Sweet (Desiree Lim, 2001).

Sugar Sweet, Desiree Lim's made-for-Japanese-TV rom-com-dram, has some important things to say, and didn't have a great deal of time to say them in (one assumes the 67-minute running time came from network strictures rather than Lim). Under the right circumstances, that sort of economy can lead to short, brilliant films that will stay with the viewer long after he's finished watching; many of the entries in Showtime's Masters of Horror series are good examples of this. Sugar Sweet, on the other hand, is none of those things, a movie that celebrates dissolute ennui among its characters, barely touches on any of the themes it so desperately wants to explore, and was in great need of at least one more script rewrite to work with, rather than against the movie's leanness where runtime was concerned.

Plot: Naomi (Starfish Hotel's Saori Kitagawa) is a director of lesbian porn. While there is a strong subculture of porn-directed-by-women in the Occident, 'twould seem Japan is not as kind to its female porn directors, because as we open, Naomi is being berated by her studio for making movies that aren't going to get guys off (because, presumably, women in Japan don't watch porn. Just like they didn't in America. Suuuuuuuuuure). She is sent from her producer's office in shame, tasked to make a moreâ"well, pornlikeâ"porn film. Instead, she tells them to go stuff it (not to their faces, of course) and embraces a hot new craze, reality TV, working on a lesbian dating series. Needless to say, she finds herself falling for one of her subjects, and when she's not shooting the series or placating her boss (after all, she wants to keep that career path open in case she needs to fall back on it), she's either canoodling with her circle of oh-so-cynical real-life pals or pouring out her heart to a new online friend who really, truly seems to understand her.

If you've seen more than three Lifetime Original Movies in your life, that brief synopsis tells you everything you need to know about where this movie is going, including the Big Reveal(TM) at the end, and that is its biggest problem. Sugar Sweet doesn't try to do thing one differently than the average rom-com-dram, which is ironic given its protagonist's predicament. Where Naomi isn't making porn films guys can get off to, Lim is making rom-com-drams that will transport the lowest common denominator to heights of utterly safe, predictable ecstasy. The fact that all the movie's main characters are female seems more as if it were a matter of convenience than a desire to examine, or even illustrate, the differences in the dating scene between heteros and lesbians; there's little dialogue here, no matter in which arena Naomi happens to be interacting with others, that you wouldn't here between [insert unconventionally-beautiful Nicholas Sparks heroine] and [completely conventionally beautiful Nicholas Sparks hero]. It's depressing, and more to the point, it seems emotionally dishonest. *.