Sugar (2008 film)
Sugar | |
---|---|
Directed by | Anna Boden Ryan Fleck |
Written by | Anna Boden Ryan Fleck |
Produced by | Paul Mezey Jamie Patricof Jeremy Kipp Walker |
Starring | Algenis Perez Soto Karl Bury Michael Gaston |
Cinematography | Andrij Parekh |
Edited by | Anna Boden |
Music by | Michael Brook |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 120 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Spanish |
Box office | $1,144,438[1] |
Sugar is a 2008 sports drama film written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It follows the story of Miguel Santos, also known as Sugar (Algenis Perez Soto), a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro de Macorís, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty. Playing professionally at a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, Miguel finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States' minor league system; but when his play on the mound falters, he begins to question the single-mindedness of his life's ambition.
Plot
Miguel "Sugar" Santos (Perez Soto) spends his weekends at home, passing from the landscaped gardens and manicured fields on one side of the guarded academy gate to the underdeveloped, more chaotic world beyond. In his small village outside San Pedro de Macorís, Miguel enjoys a kind of celebrity status. His neighbors gather to welcome him back for the weekend; the children ask him for extra baseballs or an old glove. To his family, who lost their father years before, Miguel is their hope and shining star. With the small bonus he earned when he signed with the academy some time ago, he has started to build his family a new house—one that has a bigger kitchen for his mom and a separate room for his grandmother.
After learning a devastating
Miguel's domination on the mound masks his underlying sense of isolation, until he injures himself during a routine play at first. While Miguel is on the
Pressure mounts when Salvador, a young pitching phenomenon who used to play with Miguel, is brought up from the Dominican Republic to join the team. Miguel's play falters, and the increased isolation begins to take its toll on him. As his dream begins to fall apart, Miguel decides to leave baseball to follow another kind of American Dream. His odyssey finally brings him to New York City, where at first he struggles to find community and make a new home for himself, like so many before him. Miguel ends up playing baseball with rejected players from the minor leagues.
Cast
- Algenis Perez Soto as Miguel "Sugar" Santos
- Rayniel Rufino as Jorge Ramirez
- Andre Hollandas Brad Johnson
- Michael Gaston as Stu Sutton
- Jaime Tirelli as Osvald
- Ann Whitney as Helen Higgins
- Richard Bull as Earl Higgins
- Ellary Porterfield as Anne Higgins
- Alina Vargas as Reyna
- Sándor Técsyas Nikolai
- José Rijo as Alvarez
- Karolina Wydra as Raquel
Production
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck wrote the screenplay after researching about many Dominican immigrants who arrive in America to play in minor league towns, saying: "The stories we heard were so fascinating that it became what we were writing before we'd even decided it was our next project".[2]
The film was shot on location in Davenport, and Burlington, two cities in the state of Iowa, about 70 miles apart from each other. The movie poster features the Centennial Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River, at Davenport. The movie itself has several shots of downtown Burlington, including the charred remains of the First Methodist Church, which had burned down due to arson months before filming began.
Release
Sugar was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and was released on April 3, 2009 in Los Angeles and New York City.
Sugar was released on DVD and Blu-Ray for home video in September 2009. The physical and streaming releases were edited down to a PG-13 rating (from the original R theatrical rating) and run 114 minutes rather than the theatrical 120.
Critical response
Sugar received positive reviews from critics. The
It was scheduled to compete in the Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.[6] It was also a Spotlight film in the 2008 Hamptons International Film Festival.
See also
References
- ^ "Sugar (2009) - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
- ^ "Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, Sugar". The Reeler. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ "Sugar - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
- ^ "Sugar (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
- ^ King, Susan (December 13, 2009). "'Hurt Locker,' 'Hangover,' 'Up in the Air' among AFI's top 10 of 2009 [Updated]". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
- ^ "2008 Sundance Film Festival Announces Films in Competition" (PDF). 2007-11-28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
External links
- Official website
- Sugar at IMDb
- Sugar at Metacritic
- Sugar at Rotten Tomatoes
- Review on Reuters