Sunday, November 20, 2016

Sugar William Oliver



William Oliver
Sugar

     Sugar is a sports drama directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, starring Algenis Perez Soto (Sugar), Jose Rijo (Alvarez), Walki Cuevas (Alfonso).  Sugar follows the story of a Dominican Baseball star, Miguel Santos, who's nickname is Sugar because his pitches are so sweet.  Sugar is given a shot at the young age of 19, to go play on a single-A baseball team in Iowa, almost a total 180 from being in the Dominican Republic.  He struggles with speaking English, and experiences a heavy culture shock.  However, being on the mound seems to take away from that, as he dominates early on in his career.  As Sugar begins to get more comfortable in Iowa, it seems that Miguel's dream is materializing.  But after his only familiar connection to the DR, Jorge, is cut from the team, some of the wind is taken out of Sugar's sails.  He then injures himself making a routine play at first.

     During his time rehabbing, a new pitcher and friend of Sugar, Salvador, comes onto the team and plays like an ace.  Sugar sees this and begins to take steroids in an attempt to speed his recovery.  But he continues to falter on the mound, while Salvador continues to thrive.   Everything began to mount against Sugar.  So he makes the spontaneous decision right before his team is about to leave to go play, to pack his bags and get on a greyhound bus to New York City.  In one of the most memorable scenes, Miguel takes the train as it rides past Yankee Stadium, symbolizing his dream fading away in the past and him starting anew in a new city.  He finds a job as a carpenter, working at a local shop with a Puerto Rican man, who he begins to build a connection with.  The movie ends with Miguel playing, what I believe was a rec league baseball game.  It was very nonchalant and anti-climactic.

     I didn't understand why the ending was this way, and it perplexed me.  However, I believe that the ending was very nonchalant to show the side of the story no one often sees.  The star who doesn't become an ace in the big leagues.  But the one who got their shot, and it didn't go as planned.  That story is very anti-climactic, and I believe the movie showcased that perfectly.  I would give it 3.75/5 stars.

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