Sugar
April 5, 2009If you’re over 16, go out and catch the movie “Sugar”. It’s one of the finest baseball movies I’ve ever seen. This fictional film chronicles the career trajectory of a young pitcher named Sugar Ramos from his town in the Dominican, to spring training, to a class A team in Iowa.
The actual baseball action scenes are just OK as far as the realism goes (I’ve obviously got a pretty critical eye though). However, it really doesn’t matter because this movie is all about the other stuff. I was shocked how well writer-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck captured the stuff that makes up minor league culture. The bus rides, the loneliness, homesickness, success, failure, injury, seeing friends get released, having young guns try to take your job, groupies, hotel rooms, the competition, road food, bonus baby players, drugs, language barriers, prejudice, host families, and music to name a few of the things they replicate with spine chilling accuracy. I could really identify with, and had many of the exact same feelings as Sugar in this film.
This subtle, effortless, quiet movie transcends the cliches of your typical baseball movie. It’s more about a young guy coming of age in a big world, trying to figure out where he fits in. It’s dead on and I loved the way it comes together in the end with the subtle facial expressions of Sugar.
I’ll be curious to find out how people who didn’t play pro ball react to this movie. Will it resonate with them as much as with me? All I know is, if you want to experience what it feels like to be a young kid from the Dominican uprooted to Iowa, or for that matter, a kid from Southern California living and playing in the Dominican (me), go see this flick now. In my opinion it’s a beauty. Let me know what you think.
Loved the movie, the acting, cinematography, and the theme. Thought the Higgins were perfect as the baseball fans trying to do the right thing for the players far from home. Sad that he couldn’t make it, but good he found something he could make – the table.