Starring: Algenis Perez Soto, Ellary Porterfield, Rayniel Rufino
Written & Directed By: Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
Release: April 3, 2009
Grade: B+

I love an inspirational sports movie as much as the next person, but no one can really argue how formulaic they have become. They might be the most predictable type of films as it has become so hard to do anything very different with the topic. No matter what the sport either they struggle but end up winning some sort of championship or they work hard and fail, but realize that they have still achieved something they should be proud of. The only differences become which sport it concentrates on. Somehow Sugar manages to break the mold and do something different; it is completely unpredictable. Maybe this is because it’s not really a sports movie. I like to think of it as a sports movie that doesn’t completely define itself by others that have come before it or even the sport itself. It cares about the protagonist more than anything else and focuses on the life-altering journey he is going on.

Miguel ‘Sugar’ Santos (Soto) comes from a loving, but poor family in the Dominican Republic. He is a very skilled baseball player and has a mean curveball. He is given the chance to prove his passion and talent for the sport. He makes the cut for spring training in the U.S. minor leagues. He was always among the best, but now he is surrounded by others who are just as good if not better. If he can’t keep his game up here, he might not only lose out on his chance of success, but will be letting his entire family down who are counting on him. He manages to impress the right people and he makes it on to the Single-A team in Bridgetown, Iowa. There he stays with The Higgens, an older couple who are big baseball fans. Their traditional and religious granddaughter, Anne (Porterfield), is among the kindest to him, despite them not being able to communicate much at first as Sugar doesn’t know much English aside from the baseball terms he was taught back home. Still, there is a definite connection between them.

Now that Sugar has been got a spot on the team, he knows it is his time to shine. Still, he begins to feel undying pressure. He works through this though he strikes out every batter that comes to the plate. For several games, there is hardly a batter that Sugar can’t strike out. Everyone is praising him and he is already living like a champion. However, soon he finds out how quickly it all can slip away. One mistake and those who were so proud of him are already doubting him. Sugar wants to prove them wrong more than anything, but he isn’t sure if he can. Soon, a new pitcher comes in and quicker steals Sugar’s position. He gets demoted to back up rather than being the star. One of Sugar’s closest friend’s on the team, Jorge (Rufino), got kicked off the team since his performance began to slip. Sugar doesn’t want to let them take it all away from him so he decides to beat them to the punch and leaves. He goes to New York since Jorge said that is where he was going. Sugar tries to find Jorge there but doesn’t have much luck. He finds a motel to stay at for awhile and ends up getting a job at the restaurant where Jorge used to work. A Puerto Rican carpenter ends up giving him a chance and he is able to craft wood, which is another passion of his that doesn’t hold the same amount of stress as baseball did.

The acting in the film is very well done. Algenis Perez Soto gives a very personal performance as Sugar. He is glowing and full of pride in the beginning until he is brought to the U.S. where he embodies the alienation of being an outsider in a foreign place. He shows the struggle to make it and stay consistent and highlights the insanity that this struggle can bring you to. At certain moments it seems like he has it all, but in the end he is lost and just trying to find what the best path for him really is. Soto does all this with such truth and subtlety. Perhaps this is because he, along with all of the Dominican players, was a rising baseball player as a teen in the Dominican Republic and most likely went through many of the things that Sugar does. Ellary Porterfield played the sweet Anne, but at times her affection confused Sugar and made him feel even more estranged. Rayniel Rufino also did very well as the determined, talented, and passion-filled Jorge who ultimately lost his one chance, yet it still brought him to the U.S. where he was able to find more opportunities and happiness.

Anne Boden and Ryan Fleck, the team that brought us Half Nelson, do very well in their sophomore effort to show us everything that Sugar and many like him have gone through without needing to have strict control themselves. They tell the story full of struggle and heart beautifully, paying great attention to every detail, giving us a realistic and meaningful film. Still this is about Sugar and in a way it almost feels like they are sitting back somewhat and observing with us rather than trying to dictate the film too much.

The Dominican Republic in some respects is shown like a training ground for American baseball players. In some scenes the country is celebrated vividly, while in others it is somewhat depressing. Iowa, with the open corn fields, is shown through the isolation. The language barrier is captured in this isolated environment very well. Sugar ends up sticking to French Toast every time he eats out since his lack of English restrains him from the rest of the menu. Some try to help him out and adjust their typical language and he does slowly learn more and more, but this adds to one more element of the struggle and feeling so alone in this place that could make or break him. What is great about this film is in reality it is about more than whether he succeeds or fails, it’s about every step of the way and really just leading his life in a challenging environment.

Sugar really illustrates how so many in the Dominican Republic are trained for American baseball. If they are any good they are expected to rise up and make something of themselves, but it is a whole other ball game in the states. It was comical how the only English they are trained with are baseball terms that become second nature to them. Sugar’s younger sister has to work in a factory all day for far less money than Sugar is making on the minor league team even when he is on the bench. He doesn’t want to go home; than this would be all for nothing. Making it on his own in a estranged environment allows him to find out what he really wants. There are suggestions that if Sugar explains everything than his couches might take him back. You keep on thinking this will happen and Sugar will get a victory through this in the end. That’s what every other sports movie would have done, but thankfully Sugar is different. It is more realistic in the direction that it goes as so few athletes ever make it and even fewer are stars in the way Sugar thought he was going to be. The film goes through a number of highs and lows, never settling in one area for too long and keeping the audience guessing where it will go in the end. It is really about life as an adventure of self-discovery and all the hurtles that it includes as well as the happiness and accomplishment it can bring.