Sugar [Blu-ray]

Sugar

Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

Year: 2008

Rated: Not Rated

Program Length: 114 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 1080p

Languages: Spanish (with some English), Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish

The Program

A few years ago the starting point guard for Providence College’s basketball team was the nephew of one of my high school teammates. One day I was perusing the Providence College website and I began to read the biographies of the players. I was struck by the fact that every member of the team – including the players who rarely got off the bench – stated that his aspiration was to play basketball in the NBA. Those aspirations were, for the most part, totally unrealistic. Each player on the Providence team had been a standout in high school, but most of them were not talented enough to be starters in college. Ultimately,  only one Providence player was drafted by an NBA team. My former teammate’s nephew was not drafted and had to settle for playing professional basketball in Europe. Most of his teammates are not playing professionally anywhere.

Sugar tells the story of Miguel “Sugar” Santos (Algenis Perez Soto), a young baseball pitcher in the Dominican Republic. Baseball is a national passion in the Dominican Republic, where talented players are, from a young age, groomed to be major league prospects. Sugar is an excellent athlete with a strong arm, and when he learns to master a new pitch (the knuckle curve) he is invited by the Kansas City big league team to attend spring training in Arizona. Getting a chance to play in “the States” is the goal of every Dominican boy talented enough to earn a spot in one of his country’s baseball academies. A contract with a major league baseball team is, for the most part, a young man’s only chance to raise himself and his family out of poverty. Sugar is not single-minded about baseball. His late father was a carpenter, and Sugar spends his spare time slowly building a new house for his mother. Nevertheless, his skill as a pitcher is such that his family and friends have staked their hopes on him making it to the major leagues.

The Dominican baseball academies make an effort to prepare their players for life in the United States, but they can do only so much. The players learn some basic baseball phrases in English (“I got it,” “line drive,” etc.), but those lessons do little to prepare Sugar for what is in store for him. Upon his arrival in Phoenix he learns that there are 75 pitchers in camp who are competing for 50 minor league slots. His knowledge of English is so limited that for weeks the only thing he has for breakfast is French toast, because he does not know how to order eggs. At the end of spring training Sugar gets the good news that he has made the roster of Kansas City’s Class A minor league team in Iowa.

Upon his arrival in Iowa, Sugar learns that he will be living with the Higgins family, local farmers who provide housing for players each season. Earl and Helen Higgins are nice people, and they have an attractive daughter who catches Sugar’s eye, but they do not speak much Spanish and the player’s social assimilation is awkward and difficult. His progress on the baseball diamond goes more smoothly, but his spot in the starting rotation is interrupted when he sustains an injury to his foot. His best friend on the team is released and another friend is promoted to a Class AA team. Afterwards Sugar has trouble regaining his pitching form, and he begins to question whether he really has the skill and desire to make it in major league baseball.

Although Sugar takes place in the world of baseball, it is not really a baseball film. Rather, it is about the hard work, struggles and personal upheaval which baseball players from other countries must endure in their pursuit of a very elusive and difficult goal. Nevertheless, the baseball scenes are very realistically staged, which certainly enhances the film’s authenticity. The baseball scenes were filmed on location at a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic and at minor league stadiums in Arizona and Iowa. However, there are no game-winning heroics or improbable championships. This attention to realism is a hallmark of filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Gooden, who were responsible for the gritty inner-city drama Half Nelson.

Sugar loses some momentum following the injury to the pitcher, but after a somewhat abrupt plot twist it quickly regains its footing and avoids a conventional conclusion. Algenis Perez Soto is a revelation in his acting debut, and he is aided by a strong supporting cast of mostly little-known actors. Sugar is an original and insightful look at the immigrant experience in the United States and is highly recommended.

The Video

The 1.78:1 1080p widescreen transfer is beautifully detailed. The image is consistently sharp. The scenes shot in the Dominican Republic have muted colors and are deliberately less vivid than those shot in Arizona and Iowa. However, the colors are solid and accurate. Black levels are solid and shadow detail is very good. This is another solid Blu-ray transfer from Sony.

The Audio

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack can be heard either in Spanish or Portuguese, with easy-to-read English subtitles. There is a fair amount of English dialogue spoken by the American characters, but when the English subtitles are selected all of the dialogue, including the English dialogue, is subtitled. This was a bit disconcerting at first, but I got used to it. Incidentally, viewers who choose the Spanish subtitles will also see the Spanish dialogue subtitled. The surround channels do not get a workout here, but ambient sounds are used effectively and the music on the soundtrack has nice separation.

The Supplements

The standard-definition extras include a short “making of” featurette, which gives the filmmakers the opportunity to expound upon their intentions in making the movie. A featurette entitled “Play Beisbol! The Dominican Dream” provides some insight into the culture of baseball in the Dominican Republic and features comments by Dominican major league players such as David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Sammy Sosa and Robinson Cano. A brief interview with Algenis Perez Soto focuses on his family background, his participation in baseball, and his work history.

Five deleted scenes can be seen in standard definition. They hold some interest but were not essential. The theatrical trailer also is included, along with previews for Tyson, Rudo y Cursi, Moon, Whatever Works, Soul Power, Ghostbusters, and A River Runs Through It.

Incidentally, the packaging says that Sugar is Not Rated, but the theatrical trailer says that it is rated PG-13 (PG-13 seems to be the appropriate rating).

The Packaging

The single disc comes in a standard Blu-ray keep case.

The Final Analysis

Sugar is an intriguing and illuminating look at the experiences of baseball players from the Caribbean and Mexico who are trying to make it to the major leagues in the United States. It is original, extremely well made, and a very satisfying drama which will appeal even to those who are not baseball fans.

Equipment used for this review:

Panasonic DMP-BD50 Blu-ray player

Panasonic Viera TC-P46G15 THX Plasma display, calibrated to THX specifications by Gregg Loewen

Yamaha HTR-5890 THX Surround Receiver

BIC Acoustech speakers

Interconnects: Monster Cable

Release Date: September 1, 2009