Sugar (2008) review

Somber, humdrum depiction of the rise (and fall) of a Dominican pitcher (Algenis Perez Soto) as he leaves home, goes to the U.S., plays for a minor league - with some success - but eventually loses control (literally, figuratively) and has to reassess his future. Does a nice job showing the frustration of being lost in a place where you don't know the language and the culture - and the alienation therein - but 'Sugar's' trajectory doesn't have the same sting as El Norte, and he's often times his own enemy and his own limitation: all around him are supportive figures truly unfortunate people never have (his U.S. coach, his teammates, his real family, his Iowa family, the good people he finds in N.Y.C.). A depressive sort, Soto's character isn't as riveting a central figure as Ryan Gosling's self-destructive heroin addict in Boden and Fleck's debut.