Did you ever watch a movie and think, "Eh, this is okay but nothing great" and then, when it was over, you said, " "Wow, that was really good!?" That's "Sugar," a film you may not quite appreciate how good it is until it's over, and then you think about it for awhile.
What made it so good, I thought, was the amazing realism with the dialog. If I hadn't read that this was movie with actors, I would have sworn I was watching a documentary.
We follow a young guy from the Dominican Republic about 19 who is hoping to become a Major League baseball player. If you follow baseball, you already know there are a lot of good players from the Dominican. "Miguel 'Sugar' Santos," played by first-time actor Algenis Perez Soto is a pitcher in the Kansas City organization, but most of the baseball in seen in a small town in Iowa, where Santos is assigned to play Class A ball as his first stepping stone to the Major Leagues. In one scene, I saw a sign on a business that said "Davenport" and the ending credits list Quad Cities as a place of filming. It's in Eastern Iowa right on the Mississippi River.
In the last 40 minutes, the film takes place in New York City as our ballplayer gets discouraged and takes a bus to The Big Apple to see his friend and to see Yankee Stadium, where he has dreams of playing. This film does not have the normal successful-happy ending, and that makes it all the more realistic. It's not a sad ending, either, as our hero makes do with what he has and gets help from some nice people....and simply gets on with his life and plays baseball simply for the joy of it on weekends.
The best part of this film, I thought, was the realistic dialog that went with that realistic story. Everybody from the ballplayers, to the Higgins family in Iowa who housed "Santos," to the Iowa manager and the all the folks he met in New York City all sounded like the real deal. This movie does not have the feel of something made up; it looks and sounds very authentic.
Although made for an Hispanic audience, with most of the language in Spanish, it also was for North Americans, to open our eyes what it's like for all these Latin American players who come to the states to play professional baseball and can't speak English. This is baseball's version of "Lost In Translation."
Yes, the story has a few flaws and it's slow at times, but its definitely worth watching and can lead to some interesting discussions.
What made it so good, I thought, was the amazing realism with the dialog. If I hadn't read that this was movie with actors, I would have sworn I was watching a documentary.
We follow a young guy from the Dominican Republic about 19 who is hoping to become a Major League baseball player. If you follow baseball, you already know there are a lot of good players from the Dominican. "Miguel 'Sugar' Santos," played by first-time actor Algenis Perez Soto is a pitcher in the Kansas City organization, but most of the baseball in seen in a small town in Iowa, where Santos is assigned to play Class A ball as his first stepping stone to the Major Leagues. In one scene, I saw a sign on a business that said "Davenport" and the ending credits list Quad Cities as a place of filming. It's in Eastern Iowa right on the Mississippi River.
In the last 40 minutes, the film takes place in New York City as our ballplayer gets discouraged and takes a bus to The Big Apple to see his friend and to see Yankee Stadium, where he has dreams of playing. This film does not have the normal successful-happy ending, and that makes it all the more realistic. It's not a sad ending, either, as our hero makes do with what he has and gets help from some nice people....and simply gets on with his life and plays baseball simply for the joy of it on weekends.
The best part of this film, I thought, was the realistic dialog that went with that realistic story. Everybody from the ballplayers, to the Higgins family in Iowa who housed "Santos," to the Iowa manager and the all the folks he met in New York City all sounded like the real deal. This movie does not have the feel of something made up; it looks and sounds very authentic.
Although made for an Hispanic audience, with most of the language in Spanish, it also was for North Americans, to open our eyes what it's like for all these Latin American players who come to the states to play professional baseball and can't speak English. This is baseball's version of "Lost In Translation."
Yes, the story has a few flaws and it's slow at times, but its definitely worth watching and can lead to some interesting discussions.