Movie Review Rewind: Sugar (2009)

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Sugar is directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who directed Half-Nelson. Half-Nelson pulled a great performance out of Ryan Gosling, and Sugar did the same thing with Algenis Perez Soto. The story is about chasing your dream and questioning what is valuable in life.

Miguel “Sugar” Santos (Algenis Perez Soto) doesn’t just love baseball. He lives for it. He plays at a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, where he’s a great player and a highly confident man. However, when he gets the call to move up to the minor leagues in the United States, everyone else is a great baseball player, too. But, baseball is different for Miguel. It’s a passion and it’s a way out. A way out for him and his family. A chance at a better life for him and to get his family out of poverty.

This film appears to be about baseball, but it’s not. This film is about the journey of Miguel. And baseball is just a part of his life, but not all of it. The directors use many elements to shape the character of Miguel and the obstacles he must overcome. But even when his performance as a pitcher starts to slip, Miguel starts to think of a life without baseball and if that’s a life he wants to live.

Algenis Perez Soto is fantastic as “Sugar” Santos. He captures the essence of a young man trying to live his dream. He is confident and believes in himself. But, he has to in order to make it in the major leagues and to support his family in the Dominican Republic. It’s a rude awakening when he gets to America, but Soto plays a character that not only has a lot to fight for – he’s a man who must learn and deal with the language and culture as well. It’s a different country, but a whole new world for Miguel. This really is a fish-out-of-water story.

The film takes you from one culture to another, and puts baseball as the backdrop. But you don’t care about baseball. You care about Miguel “Sugar” Santos and where his journey will take him. My only complaint is the beginning is more interesting than the end. The end comes off a little slow and some of the energy is lost, but not gone.

The film is sad, but hopeful. You almost forget he plays baseball by the end of the film. You are so caught up in Santos, it almost does not matter what sport he plays. It’s his life that keeps you interested. Sugar has to be one of the best and most heart-felt sports films made in a long time. If you can even call it a “sports” film.

“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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