Sundance. Sugar.

"No one-hit wonders, Half Nelson writer-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have created another stunning, subtle achievement with Sugar, a deeply resonant story about a Dominican baseball talent recruited for America's minor leagues," writes Anthony Kaufman at indieWIRE. "If Half Nelson showed off the duo's skillful attention to character, verite camerawork and progressive politics in their native Brooklyn, Sugar proves they are just as adept working on a wider canvas, away from home."

Updated through 1/30.

"[I]'s a resplendent fuck-you to overwrought sophomore expectations: it has a cast of mostly unknowns, much of it's in Spanish, and it is, unapologetically, a baseball movie, albeit one about the dingier parts of the pro game that don't often make it to screen," writes Alison Willmore at the IFC Blog. "Not even romance gets romanticized in film as much as baseball, but Sugar is adamantly naturalistic, using its main character's journey to brush on themes of race and globalism with the lightest of touches."

"[Algenis Perez] Soto is an absolute delight as Sugar: handsome, charming and with a killer smile, he's in every scene and carries practically the entire show," writes Kim Voynar at Cinematical. "Despite its backdrop of baseball, Sugar is more a coming-of-age tale than a sports movie, but the baseball scenes are incredibly shot; in fact, the entire film is just gorgeous, like a painting brought to life. Credit cinematographer Andrij Parekh (who also shot Half Nelson) for that. So many indie films lack that true artistry around looking beautiful on the screen. Boden and Fleck know what they're doing, and I'd expect we'll see many more films from this pair in the coming years. They're just warming up."

"Sugar's story takes some unexpected shifts in the last third of the film, but what's wonderful about Boden and Fleck's movie is that it never tries to psychoanalyze its protagonist, never inserts a helpful voice-over or an Anglo girlfriend to explain everything," writes Andrew O'Hehir. "Sugar's journey and destination just make sense, and if the hero of this tender and lovingly constructed film is a dignified young man who holds himself at a distance from us, we'll respect him all the more for it in the morning."

And by the way, Salon should not be all but hiding "Beyond the Multiplex."

Meantime, the Reeler talks with Fleck and Boden.

Online viewing tip. Zoom In Online's "Meet the Artists" video with Boden and Fleck.

Updates, 1/25: "It's one thing to get a great performance out of [Ryan] Gosling; it's something else entirely to guide an unknown like Mr Soto to find the emotional truth of his character, tears and a persuasive knuckleball included," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times. "It's a lovely turn that rides out a tricky drama all the way to a muted, wonderful finish that resists the usual sports-movie clichés."

Sugar is "the most realistic narrative film about baseball that I can ever remember seeing," writes Jason Guerrasio at Filmmaker, "part fish-out-of-water, part rags-to-riches, but always intriguing and at times heart wrenching to watch, whether you're a baseball fan or not."

Updates, 1/26: "Sugar lacks the tough edge of Half Nelson," writes Howard Karren at In the Company of Glenn. "But Boden and Fleck's beautifully polished style of filmmaking, with its low-key dramatics and pitch-perfect performances (often using baseball players and nonprofessionals as actors), more than makes up for it."

"Sugar offers an array of thoughts on the many variations of the American dream, the struggle of immigrants hoping to assimilate into American culture, the pressures facing professional athletes, and the allure of performance enhancing drugs," writes S James Snyder in the New York Sun. "'I certainly hope it's bigger than just baseball,' Mr Fleck said on the night of the Sundance world premiere."

Update, 1/29: "It's a gorgeous film - subtle, observant, full of life - yet the surprise isn't how good it is but rather how true it rings," writes Scott Foundas in the Voice.

Update, 1/30: "Whether the end is a frustrating side-step or a personal triumph depends on whether you've taken the many opportunities for understanding Miguel that Boden and Fleck offer," writes Rob Davis for Paste. "I found it sublime."

Posted by dwhudson at January 24, 2008 7:23 AM