"Bring me some Sugar, I am your neighbor" - Jack O'Brien

"Sugar" directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck is a Drama that follows the protagonist Miguel "Sugar" Santos through his journey into professional baseball in America. 

"Sugar" was nominated for the 2009 ESPY best sports movie and won the 2010 AFI Awards best movie.  It was nominated for six other miscellaneous awards.

Sugar is set in two main locations: The Dominican Republic, and The United States. The story line unfolds across multiple places and states, but the specifics of location generally speaking, aren't important to this film's themes.

The film follows Miguel "Sugar" Santos and his Minor-League baseball career in America. Santos is seen as a prodigy in his home town, is quickly recruited by Kansas City, and promptly sent off to America to pitch professionally.

Santos seems to struggle with the American way of life, particularly, with the language. One of his first struggles as a character is his frustration trying to order food at a Diner. Santos at first, cannot seem to get a grasp on the language, and as a result, perpetually eats french toast, as that is all he can say in English. This frustration with himself is the first character struggle Santos undergoes in the film/

The next significant struggle Santos undergoes with himself is his performance as a player. In several consecutive games, he performed poorly, and struggles with his identity as a baseball player. Santos knows hard work is what put him in his situation, and cannot seem to put that work in anymore. As a result, Santos turns to performance-enhancing drugs in an attempt to remain competitive. This backfires, and Santos's frustration compounds.

The culmination of Santos's frustrations sees him leaving baseball and heading to New York. Santos does this to follow his friend and mentor, in an attempt to find something friendly in the hostile environment he has been in for his while time in America. Santos appears to find some sort of fulfillment in a working life, and moves baseball to the side as he works a normal job, in a normal life.

The film's ending is similar to that of Rocky, in that it isn't what you'd expect. I had initially expected Santos to succeed and make it to the big leagues, just like one would expect Rocky to win his fight. I think Santos moving away form baseball tells a different story, and not one that I dislike.