Sugar (Unrated)
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Movie Reviews of Sugar (Unrated)
Movie Review: try something else
Summary: 2 Stars
With gay cinema sometimes you have to take what you can get. Unfortunately for me this movie was awful. My roommates and I watched this movie and none of us enjoyed it, there were moments when we felt like turning it off. I really have to recommend to anyone considering buying this movie to rent it first. For me personally it is money wasted and I never plan on watching again! Also, why is the movie image so crappy looking?Movie Review: Not all that great...
Summary: 2 Stars
In fact I found it to be pretty much easily summed up with one word-CRAP.Movie Review: Nothing Sweet About This Hustler "Love Story"--It's So Artificial, It Should Be Called Saccharine
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm not really sure about the state of gay independent cinema. Seriously. Now there are plenty of ineffective low budget features across the board, but it just seems that the success stories in the gay indies are much more infrequent proportionally to the number of films being made. I'm not quoting real life statistics, of course, this is just my perception. What is equally interesting is that no matter how lacking some of these films may be in terms of accomplished filmmaking technique or logical storytelling, they are embraced by many. It's as if we are still perpetuating the notion that any gay representation is better than none--and I just don't know if that's true any more. Surely, gay cinema can aspire to greatness. I understand that many of these films are done with no money and very limited means. I sympathize. But writing a compelling and believable screenplay? That just takes creativity and talent--but for every great gay film, there are still 100 disasters!
Which leads me to "Sugar," a Canadian treat about the hustler life from John Palmer. Ostensibly billed as some sort of a love story, this bizarrely uneven film could never convince me that anything real was at stake. The characters are so inconsistent, the situations so false--what is supposed to have a gritty, hard edged feel just left me slightly amused (if I registered any emotion beyond shock). Telling the coming-of-age story of a gay suburban teen, Cliff, "Sugar" sets up an odd family life. Virginal Cliff is sent into the city by his young sister (and I mean elementary aged) for his 18th birthday. The girl, who is addicted to Ritalin, provides Cliff with vodka and marijuana to make the trip more enjoyable. His mother is never a strong parental figure, she's off at work (something unexplained having to do with cartons of chocolate) and/or completely indifferent--yet oddly accepting of her children's lack of sense.
Cliff promptly heads off to hustler central, meets the love of his life, makes out immediately, spends the night with all the rent boys--including a naked party in a client's limo. Cliff begins a romance/friendship in earnest with Butch--a surprisingly coherent and pleasant (when the story needs him to be) train wreck of a low-end escort. Cliff yearns to join the hustler life--why not? Everything is peaches and roses, however, until Butch does the unthinkable. It's awful and so unexpected! He has sex with Cliff in front of a client. It's exactly what Cliff has been wanting (both in terms of the relationship and in advancing his new career), but somehow we're supposed to believe it's unforgivable (and that Cliff has remained chaste during his explorations). The story gets even more ridiculous (I mean heartrending) as we get to the conclusion. Cliff must face the consequences of the life he has chosen--and the film leaves us with one last parting message. There's nothing that can't be solved by an anonymous hook-up in a restaurant bathroom. Sweet.
You know, the actors aren't bad. Heck, this film even features Canadian indie fave Sarah Polley. There's nudity, if that's what you're looking for. The little sister is extremely funny--although her penchant for supplying drugs and alcohol is never explained. If you find this a "love" story, bless you--but it's not for me. Now, I've heard a few comparisons to other (more successful) hustler movies including Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho." Well, that just leaves me with one more thing to say--Spare me! KGHarris, 04/07.
Movie Review: Don't waste your money on this awful film
Summary: 1 Stars
The premise looked like it had some promise, but I ultimately destroyed the DVD after I watched it b/c I thought it was so unpleasant and implausible. (I usually have a high tolerance for films compared to my friends.)
The more I considered this film, the less I liked it. Seemed as if there was some sadism and internalized homophobia involved in the screenwriter's mind.
The film focuses on the "relationship" between a very messed up teen hustler who has a nasty drug habit and very few morals and his fawning teen hanger-on (NOT a friend in any real sense). They basically hang out together, do drugs, develop no intimacy, oh and there's a nasty rape scene that is patently offensive. It paints a pretty nasty view of gay life when positive views are both more representative and functional for people to watch.
It's hard to imagine NOT being offended (and not in a thought-provoking way, either) by this film. It was poorly written, not very interesting to watch, and not sexy. Usually if I thought a film was ok, I'll keep it or give it away. This I destroyed b/c I did't want to abet the sentiments expressed therein.
With films like this who needs the Religious Right to persecute us?
Movie Review: Sand in the Sugar
Summary: 1 Stars
Q: What do you get when you mix a bad screenplay with no plot, unbelievable situations like the little sister, bad production values and scenes inserted only to shock (pardon the pun) like the servicing of the 500 lb. woman? A: Sugar!
Cliff has an identity crisis. Big deal. So what? Which one of us hasn't at some point in our lives? So he turns to drugs and hustling. I know that was my chosen path of enlightenment.
Unlikable characters, flimsy plot, bad production values (everything is so dark I had to adjust the brightness on my monitor) and situations that are so far-fetched they are more appropriate for a comic book. This trashy film asks us to suspend disbelief so often you'll feel like you were hired by your local electric company to string power lines.
Other reviewers have called this film gritty. It's gritty, all right. Gritty like sand in your sugar.