Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's SUGAR is one of the best baseball movies and baseball isn't its main focus. Miguel "Sugar" Santos, a Dominican ballplayer, is the focus. Through his story one sees the difficult odds any player must face in trying to make the major leagues, especially players from foreign countries. In the personal story of one player you get the scope of all players that follow their dreams of the big time.
Sugar (Algenis Perez Soto, film debut) is a promising pitcher in a Dominican farm league for the Kansas City, Knights. When a recruiter from the States teaches him a new curveball, he begins to attract the eyes of the Minors and is called up to a single A club in the Midwest. His friend Jorge Ramirez (Rayniel Rufino, LIBERTY KID) joins him, but he is soon cut from the team. Sugar has a hard time communicating with anyone because he only speaks a few words of English and few people speak Spanish. He stays with an older couple, who are diehard fans of the team. His coaches struggle to give him basic instructions. The only thing he knows how to order for breakfast is French Toast and he doesn't even like it that much.
Boden and Fleck watches as Sugar goes through the typical trials and tribulations of a young player. He has his days where he's the darling of the fans and then slumps where he's getting booed off the mound. He battles injuries and new players hungry to take his spot in the rotation. The stress to keep on top is enormous, and the lure of an illegal edge seems to be around all levels of pro ball.
For all these challenges, Sugar's outsider status makes it all the more difficult for him. He has a hard time bonding with his teammates. The promising college star Johnson (Andre Holland, MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA) tries to makes friends, but the language barrier is tough. And their friendship just reminds us that baseball has given Johnson a college education, while baseball has given Sugar little more than a long shot. Sugar is lonely, missing his family and girlfriend back home. He has a whole community counting on his success.
Sugar makes some decisions that are questionable. Boden and Fleck have the confidence to take the story in unexpected directions. They are not beholden to formulas of the sports genre. This makes the final act challenging. It leaves the audience holding their breath. But the reason it works is because we understand Sugar's feelings. We might not agree with some of the things he does, but we sympathize. Newcomer Soto is a natural, giving an unforced performance in the vein of classic neo-realism.
The film uses a character study to look at a macro story. While Sugar might be the star of his small town, there are hundreds of thousands of small towns and big towns around the world that have equal to better stars. There are a million factors that go into someone making it into the Majors. Talent, luck, hard work, drive, personality, all play a key role. Talent doesn't even seem to be the most important. The look on Sugar's face at the end of the film says more than a thousand words. We get the sense that Sugar remembers what got him into baseball and where it has led him. For good or bad it has given him opportunities and it was up to him to choose what opportunities where best for him.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
