Sugar (2008 film)
Encyclopedia
Sugar is a 2008 sports drama
film directed by Anna Boden
and Ryan Fleck
. It follows the story of Miguel Santos, a. k. a. 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.
, 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 knuckle curve
, Sugar is invited to spring training by the fictional Kansas City Knights. He is assigned to their Single A affiliate in Iowa, the Swing. He is housed by the Higgins family, who take in Swing players every year. Jorge (Rufino), a veteran player and the only other Dominican on the team, also tries to help Miguel learn the ropes. However, despite the Higgins' welcoming efforts and Jorge's guidance, the challenge of Miguel's acceptance into the community is exposed in small ways every day, from his struggle to communicate in English to an accident of casual bigotry
at a local bar.
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 disabled list
, Jorge, his one familiar connection to home in this strange new place, is cut from the team, never fully regaining his ability following off-season knee surgery. The new vulnerability of Miguel's injury, coupled with the loneliness of losing his closest friend, force Miguel to begin examining the world around him and his place within it. Pressure mounts when Salvador, a young pitching phenom 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.
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".
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.
reported that 93% of critics had given the film positive reviews, based upon a sample of 95. At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average
score of 82, based on 26 reviews. AFI also named the film among its Top 10 for 2009.
.
It is also a Spotlight film in the 2008 Hamptons Film Festival.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
film directed by Anna Boden
Anna Boden
Anna Boden is an American film director, cinematographer, editor, and screenwriter best known as the co-writer of the 2006 film Half Nelson. She is known for her collaborations with fellow filmmaker Ryan Fleck.- Life and career :...
and Ryan Fleck
Ryan Fleck
Ryan K. Fleck is an American film director, cinematographer, editor, and screenwriter best known for directing and writing the 2006 film Half Nelson and the 2008 film Sugar. He is known for his collaborations with fellow filmmaker Anna Boden.-Life and career:Fleck was born in Berkeley, California...
. It follows the story of Miguel Santos, a. k. a. Sugar (Algenis Perez Soto
Algenis Perez Soto
Algenis Perez Soto is a young Dominican actor. He was discovered playing a casual game of baseball with friends in the Dominican Republic and chosen to star in his first acting role ever, Sugar, a movie about a baseball player’s struggle to rise from amateur playing to the major leagues, and to...
), a Dominican
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
pitcher from San Pedro de Macorís
San Pedro de Macorís
San Pedro de Macorís is a municipality and the capital of the San Pedro de Macorís province in the Dominican Republic.-Demographics:...
, struggling to make it to the big leagues
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
and pull himself and his family out of poverty. Playing professionally at a baseball academy
Dominican Summer League
The Dominican Summer League is a branch of affiliated minor league baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. The 2011 72-game season begins May 28 and ends August 20...
in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Miguel finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' minor league system
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
; 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 MacorisSan Pedro de Macorís
San Pedro de Macorís is a municipality and the capital of the San Pedro de Macorís province in the Dominican Republic.-Demographics:...
, 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 knuckle curve
Knuckle curve
In Major League history, the term knuckle curve has been used to describe three entirely different pitches.The first, more common pitch called the knuckle curve is really a standard curveball, thrown with one or more of the index or mean fingers bent. According to practitioners, this gives them a...
, Sugar is invited to spring training by the fictional Kansas City Knights. He is assigned to their Single A affiliate in Iowa, the Swing. He is housed by the Higgins family, who take in Swing players every year. Jorge (Rufino), a veteran player and the only other Dominican on the team, also tries to help Miguel learn the ropes. However, despite the Higgins' welcoming efforts and Jorge's guidance, the challenge of Miguel's acceptance into the community is exposed in small ways every day, from his struggle to communicate in English to an accident of casual bigotry
Bigotry
A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs...
at a local bar.
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 disabled list
Disabled list
In Major League Baseball, the disabled list is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players.-General guidelines:...
, Jorge, his one familiar connection to home in this strange new place, is cut from the team, never fully regaining his ability following off-season knee surgery. The new vulnerability of Miguel's injury, coupled with the loneliness of losing his closest friend, force Miguel to begin examining the world around him and his place within it. Pressure mounts when Salvador, a young pitching phenom who used to play with Miguel, is brought up from the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
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
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
. His odyssey finally brings him to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, 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 SotoAlgenis Perez SotoAlgenis Perez Soto is a young Dominican actor. He was discovered playing a casual game of baseball with friends in the Dominican Republic and chosen to star in his first acting role ever, Sugar, a movie about a baseball player’s struggle to rise from amateur playing to the major leagues, and to...
as Miguel "Sugar" Santos - Rayniel Rufino as Jorge Ramirez
- Andre Holland as Brad Johnson
- Michael GastonMichael GastonMichael Gaston is an American film and television actor. He played agent Quinn on the show Prison Break. He appeared as Gray Anderson on the CBS drama series Jericho. He also appeared in the first season of The Sopranos as a compulsive gambler in trouble with Tony...
as Stu Sutton - Jaime Tirelli as Osvaldo
- Ann Whitney as Helen Higgins
- Richard BullRichard Bull (actor)Richard Bull is an American film actor, stage actor and television actor.He is best known for his performance as Nels Oleson, the kindly proprietor of Oleson's Mercantile and the long suffering husband of his wife Harriet on the NBC TV series Little House on the Prairie which aired from 1974 to...
as Earl Higgins - Ellary PorterfieldEllary PorterfieldEllary Porterfield is an actress from Bend, Oregon most notable for her role as Terry "Tuff" Ryan in the 2005 film The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.-Background:...
as Anne Higgins - Alina Vargas as Reyna
- Colin Schroeder as a spectator
- Jose RijoJosé RijoJosé Antonio Rijo Abreu is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who spent the majority of his career with the Cincinnati Reds .-Playing career:...
as Alvarez
Production
Anna BodenAnna Boden
Anna Boden is an American film director, cinematographer, editor, and screenwriter best known as the co-writer of the 2006 film Half Nelson. She is known for her collaborations with fellow filmmaker Ryan Fleck.- Life and career :...
and Ryan Fleck
Ryan Fleck
Ryan K. Fleck is an American film director, cinematographer, editor, and screenwriter best known for directing and writing the 2006 film Half Nelson and the 2008 film Sugar. He is known for his collaborations with fellow filmmaker Anna Boden.-Life and career:Fleck was born in Berkeley, California...
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".
The film was shot on location in Davenport
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
, and Burlington
Burlington, Iowa
Burlington is a city in, and the county seat of Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 25,663 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 26,839 population in the 2000 census. Burlington is the center of a micropolitan area including West Burlington, Iowa and Middletown, Iowa and...
, two cities in the state of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, about 70 miles apart from each other. The movie poster features the Centennial Bridge
Rock Island Centennial Bridge
The Centennial Bridge, or Rock Island Centennial Bridge, connects Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. The bridge is long and stands above water level. On September 4, 1988, lights were installed on the arches, which make the bridge a very scenic sight at night.Construction of the bridge...
, which spans the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, 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.
Reception
Sugar was received very well by critics on its original release. The film ranking website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 93% of critics had given the film positive reviews, based upon a sample of 95. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 82, based on 26 reviews. AFI also named the film among its Top 10 for 2009.
Release
Sugar has been picked up by Sony Classic Pictures and was released on April 3, 2009 in L.A. and New York. The film was subsequently released direct to DVD with no other theatrical releases.Acclaim
It was scheduled to compete in the Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival2008 Sundance Film Festival
The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was In Bruges and the closing night film was CSNY Déjà Vu.-Films:...
.
It is also a Spotlight film in the 2008 Hamptons Film Festival.