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Visual:		7.0
Audio:		7.0
Acting:		7.0
Writing:		8.0
Score:		7.0

Director(s):	Ryan Fleck • Anna Boden
Writer(s):	Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden
Starring:	Algenis Perez Soto
Genre:	Drama • Sports
Website:	http://www.sonyclassics.com/sugar/
Release Date:	April 10, 2009
Rated:

Not being a fan of baseball—or sports in general—I often find myself at an odd place when it comes to sports movies. Certainly, I don’t let my bias prevent me from being open minded about movies centered around sports, just like I tried not to let my distaste for the real life George W. Bush blindly affect my reaction to Josh Brolin’s portrayal of the man within the context of Oliver Stone’s film. It all comes down to what a movie has to say about its particular subject, be it sports or any other activity. Nevertheless, I realized that I’m less interested in sports movies about inspirational athletic prowess or determination; I prefer ones that explore the fascination people have for them, which is fascinating in itself.

Sugar—written and directed by the team behind 2006’s breakout hit Half Nelson, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck—takes the usual cliches of the sports prodigy story and subverts them into a truly eye-opening look at the meat factory behind America’s favorite sport. We follow the journey of Miguel “Sugar” Santos (Algenis Perez Soto), a kid from the Dominican Republic who believes that he is destined to be a great pitcher. He excels above his fellow Dominicans, he is cheered on as the next big hope in his neighborhood, and when he’s recruited to play for the minor leagues, he enters America with single-minded determination to become a rich baseball star and take care of his family financially.

His story is a heartbreaking one, however, precisely because we’ve been conditioned to expect our films about athletes to be full of confidence and unbreakable spirit, which Miguel possesses at the beginning of the film. It’s important to realize that the reality of the game is often less sugarcoated. When you realize that just because you’re pretty good at something doesn’t necessarily make you a genius, and that it’s possible to meet others who surpass you, what happens to that single-minded dream? The moment where truth finally dawns on Miguel is uncomfortable to watch, with Soto’s assertiveness and charm suddenly taking a turn into bludgeoning fear and anger. You can almost excuse his desperate turn to “medicinal assistance” just to keep up with the pressure.

Before I saw this film, I certainly didn’t know that baseball players are bred like livestock. American baseball teams set up baseball academies in developing countries like the Dominican Republic, giving false hope to many of its children that it’s their only ticket out of poverty. They are taught nothing but baseball, then tested in the minor leagues, and get sent back when they don’t meet the challenge. There’s an element of exploitation there, but it’s also worth noting that it provides a generous opportunity that wouldn't have existed otherwise.

Adding another layer to the film’s complexity is the sport’s indirect contribution to illegal immigrants. These teams pluck kids from poverty-stricken countries with sky-high promises, show them the wonders of America, then expect them to leave quietly after they’re all used up. Miguel takes preemptive control of his life before the game breaks him completely and leaves him an old horse like all the other Dominican players he’s seen returning from the States to a life of quiet bitterness and regret. Is it really surprising that these players view that as an unacceptable option, choosing instead to attain a fragment of the American dream, even if it is as a dishwasher at your local dive?

Eventually, though, Sugar is just as inspirational as, if not more than, the usual “believe in yourself” movies that plague the sports genre. After all, it takes a lot of courage to admit one’s own limitations. It takes even more to leave behind a pipe dream that’s been fed to you your whole life and pursue new endeavors, in order to achieve a more spiritual satisfaction in life.

Fleck and Boden capture the uniting and hopeful side of baseball (the Americans Miguel meets are all helpful and encouraging), but they don’t skip over the ugliness waiting for those dubbed as losers. It’s a bittersweet story, maybe even unsatisfying to an extent, but it’s a unique and untold story that’s important to have out.