Sugar

Screened this film at its premiere during Sundance 2008. The main appeal for most coming to see this movie was to see what the team behind Half Nelsen could do on the second go around. And for the most part those who enjoy quality film-making will find many positives here, though this is a completely different film then Half. Much like Half Nelsen the cast feels authentic and the characters are very understated and come across with very true to life performances. The main issue with audience appreciation will hinge mostly on their interest in baseball. Serious baseball fans will most likely look differently at the Latin America ball players and the MLB system once they witness what is a very accurate portrait of the trials and tribulations of the foreign players. Sure most folks know about the great Latin players like Pedro, and David Ortiz, etc,, but do they know about players like Migual "Suger" Santos? The answer is probably not and I believe the filmmakers succeeded in creating a film that makes us think about what life is like for all those players we don't get to see under the bright lights and on the baseball cards. Its all very fascinating stuff for baseball fans to ponder and think about, those none baseball fans may find it slightly dull but with an open mind its still a beautiful portrait of a young mans journey to America.

First off, the lead actor Algenis Perez Soto is fantastic, it is unbelievable how great his performance here is when you consider that he has absolutely no acting experience at all. They literally pulled this kid off a ball field in the Dominican and stuck him in front of a camera. The rest of the cast is great as well and similarly most are not trained actors since the makers or the film wanted authentic ballplayers. From whats been said this is most likely going to be a HBO release on TV and I think thats a great spot for this film as its definitely too small and too specific a subject for a wide release. I highly encourage baseball fans to check this out when they get the chance.

If you are looking for another "sports" film, this isn't it. Sure, it's about Dominican baseball players trying to make it in the United States, and get some money for their families, just as African-Americans use the NBA to get out of the ghetto, but it is so much more.

Baseball isn't the story here. It is just a backdrop. The story is immigration.

It was funny watching Miguel 'Sugar' Santos (Algenis Perez Soto) put up with an Iowa farm family when he went to play "A" ball. They didn't speak Spanish, and he didn't speak English. The daughter (Ellary Porterfield) seemed interested, but couldn't take the big step.

He left for New York when he felt his game go. He managed to find a new life. Not completely without baseball, but without making it to the majors. Life is like that. It's what happens when you make other plans.

The success of Latin ball players like Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal, and Orlando Cepeda are legend but we never hear about the hundreds that fail, those who get lost in the system or are simply unable to handle the pressure of exorbitant signing bonuses or less than welcoming small town environments. In Sugar, writer-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, whose film Half Nelson from 2006 won numerous awards, have created a film about the problems faced by young Latinos in attempting to make the jump from the comforts of their home town environment to the major leagues. It is not just a movie about baseball but about what is important in life.

20-year-old Miguel Santos (Algenis Perez Soto) is nicknamed Sugar - he says because he is sweet on the ladies but others have different opinions. Sugar is a pitcher at an American baseball training academy in the Dominican Republic whose recently developed knuckle curve ball puts him ahead of the pack. He is the idol of his family and the children in his home town but must compete with hundreds of others like himself for an invitation to a minor league Spring Training camp. Though the baseball academy attempts to teach the fundamentals of the English language, all the players seem to remember is "home run", "foul ball", "I got it", and the words to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

Given his gifts, Sugar is invited to spring training with the fictional Kansas City Knights in Phoenix, Arizona. Eventually assigned to a Single-A farm team in Bridgetown, Iowa, he is light years away from his comfort zone. When he first sees his posted assignment to Bridgetown, Ia. he asks "where the heck is Ia (ee-ay)"? Sugar boards with a Midwestern farm family that has taken in Latino players in the past, but the adjustment is difficult. Sugar does what is expected - attends church, eats foods he is unfamiliar with, and says little but his only companion is Jorge (Rayniel Rufino), a fellow Dominican on the team who has remained stuck in Single-A ball because of an injury that refuses to heal.

Soon his problem with language and customs begin to take their toll. He encounters racial slurs at a local nightclub and is confused when he receives mixed signals from the family's ultra religious teenage daughter Anne (Ellary Porterfield). When he is slow to recover from a leg injury sustained in covering first on a ground ball, his pitching skills begin to suffer as well. One scene highlights his sense of dislocation as he tries to make his way through a massive entertainment complex filled with flashing lights, video game machines, and bowling alleys. To try to regain his pitching form, he takes steroids but it only makes his sense of disorientation worse.

His manager (Johnny Marx) is patient but he is paid to produce results and his sensitivity to Sugar's situation only goes so far. When Sugar asks teammate Brad (Andre Holland) what he would do if he could no longer play baseball and learns that Brad studied history in college, he begins to rethink exactly what he wants to do with his life. After Jorge heads for New York after being let go, the film moves in an unexpected direction, but never loses its intelligence and sensitivity. Soto is a captivating presence in his first acting role and the fact that he is also a skilled amateur baseball player gives the baseball scenes an electric authenticity. While Boden and Fleck show their love of the game, they do not hide their disdain for its exploitative aspects. No clichéd sports success story, Sugar is sweet and goes down easy but leaves a pungent aftertaste.

If you have no knowledge of, or appreciation for, the sport of baseball, then I think you will likely not enjoy this film as much as those who do. It is more of a baseball movie than many such movies, such as "The Natural," since it plays almost like a documentary rather than the usual script of "talent, obstacles, ultimate fantastic success." I can imagine that the box office receipts for this in the United Kingdom would be about what they would be in the U.S. for a movie about cricket. In "Sugar" we follow Miguel "Sugar" Santos from a U.S. major league baseball training academy in the Dominican Republic to his move to a small city in Iowa to play minor league ball. We get to know Miguel's family and humble living conditions in the Dominican Republic and then the formidable difficulties he faces in being inserted into a foreign culture where he does not speak the language.

I will never look at foreign-born baseball players the same way after having seen the discipline, arduous training, perseverance, and sacrifices they make to get where they are. And the pressure is ever-present--if you fail there are many others who can and will take your place.

Casting the native Dominican non-actor Algenis Perez Soto as Miguel is a small stroke of genius. He had played some ball (as shortstop) but had to be taught how to pitch for this movie. Perez is such a natural both on and off the field that it's impossible not to be taken by him. He has a great ability to capture emotion with facial expressions. A lot of effort must have gone into the casting, since every role rings true.

Sure, this film makes incisive comments about the immigrant experience in the United States, but, even if you are a baseball fan I think you will learn details you did not know about how the sport recruits many of its players and what they go through. Many are called, but few are chosen, and it's not necessarily clear sailing for the chosen.

Most baseball stories are focused on the guy who manages to get all the way to the Majors. Sometimes we can lose sight of the fact that for every spot filled on a major league roster, there are scores, if not hundreds, of players who get sidelined, somewhere along the way, in their quest to make it to the big leagues! You don't have to like Baseball to enjoy SUGAR, but if you do, you'll probably enjoy it all the more.

You've got to give credit to HBO films...Gutsy move to make a baseball movie that

A) Is about 70% in Spanish

B) Manages to make the viewer empathize with the isolation and culture clash experienced by someone who arrives here not speaking any English and

C) Morphs completely into a different movie genre!

Algenis Perez Soto plays SUGAR. I'd venture a guess that more likely, he REALLY is SUGAR! IMDb PRO lists this as his only acting gig, ever. Apparently, he is undecided as to whether or not to continue his career in acting.

SUGAR also boasts some great Dominican Meringue music, new, exotic third-world locations, and an on-screen collision between Dominican and Iowa Mid-Western cultures... Honestly... Quite fascinating to watch!

8.5* OUT OF 10*! ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!