Sunday, March 29, 2009

Bull Durham It Isn't.


It may not be Cannes or Sundance or Vail or Toronto but Sarasota, FL does have it's own film festival going on this week. As part of their World Cinema Celebration on Wednesday they will be showing the baseball film Sugar and throwing a Caribbean themed after-party. Never one to miss a good party, David Ortiz has RSVP'd.


Sugar tells the story of a Dominican kid, Miguel 'Sugar' Santos, who can throw a baseball. He starts out at the Dominican Baseball Academy but then gets the news prospects long to hear: he's been invited to spring training in Arizona. Sugar, who doesn't speak English or know anything but life in the Dominican, finds himself assigned to A ball in Iowa out of spring training. Then commences a fish-out-of-water, coming-of-age tale set against a green screen of baseball. It's supposed to not be your typical baseball movie, so I fear that it might not turn out well for him. It is supposed to be beautifully shot and it looks pretty good from the preview.


Sugar had it's premier at Sundance in January 2008 but despite pretty good reviews took a while to get picked up. Sony Pictures Classics is giving it a limited release (NY/LA) on April 3, though. Perhaps it will eventually work it's way up here.

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