What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.Or does it explode?
–Langston Hughes
Just as little brown boys in America have hoop dreams of becoming the next Michael Jordan, little brown boys in the Dominican Republic dream of taking the field in Yankee stadium like the next Roberto Clemente (or maybe Vic Pellot “Power”). Such is the dream of pitcher Miguel “Sugar” Santos who we first meet at a Kansas City Royals training camp in the DR. Boys who train there have big dreams of going to America to play professional ball and provide financial support for their families. That is the dream Sugar’s widowed mother has for her son. It seems Sugar’s dreams are about to come true when he is called up to spring training. He does well there and eventually ends up in Iowa playing for a feeder team. And so begins the tale of a stranger in a strange land where baseball, corn, and Jesus rule. Sugar can’t understand or speak English fluently and so his isolation is palpable. However, his ability to pitch a flawless game is all he needs to to communicate. But then his game begins to falter and the language barrier, cultural isolation, and frustration become increasingly unbearable and Sugar’s dream seems to be slipping away. And so Sugar leaves before his dream is snatched away. He heads to New York, recalibrating his dream and expectations in a place where immigrants, even baseball hopefuls, have cast their lot since this country was born.
Sugar was made by the same husband and wife duo who made the critically acclaimed Half Nelson. Apparently enamored of sports and/or wrestling holds, these filmmakers are not about the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat. Their true knack is their ability to play up the little dramas and subtleties of every day life such that they reverberate with you long after the credits roll. [I also give them big ups for giving a shout out to one of my favorite bands TV on the Radio.]
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