Friday, January 01, 2010

The film "Sugar" (2009)


Just saw the film sugar. If you love either the Caribbean or baseball, this is a film for you; if you love both, it's definitely for you. The film begins in the Dominican Republic in a Major League Baseball farm league development camp and follows the exploits of a pitcher nicknamed "Sugar." Seeing the minor leagues through Caribbean eyes is a nice change from standard baseball movies. The novel setting aside, though the film's trajectory starts out ordinarily, following Sugar as he finally gets a call to go to a pro camp and try out for Kansas City Single-A minor league affiliate, it does not end as expected, and though some of my viewer expectations are frustrated, I actually really appreciate the film for what it does. It's an original, understated, brave little film, and it's good. I won't throw out spoilers, but wanted to give this movie a plug. If forced to rate it, I'd give it three out of four stars, or a strong B+.

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