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Brendan Fehr, Andre Noble, Haylee Wanstall, Maury Chaykin, Michael Riley ... see more see more... , Marnie McPhail , Sarah Polley

Adapted from a series of short stories by Canadian cult favorite Bruce La Bruce, this seriocomic coming-of-age story stars Andre Noble as Cliff, a teenager growing up in Toronto in the 1980s. While Cl... read more read more...iff is aware of the fact he's gay and has a ravenous curiosity about sex, he hasn't been able to do much about it. However, on his 18h birthday, Cliff's free-thinking mother, Madge (Marnie McPhail), pours him a stiff drink, offers him a reefer, and politely but firmly tells him to go downtown and have some fun. Eager to lose his virginity, Cliff instead encounters Butch (Brendan Fehr), a good-looking guy in his early twenties who makes his living as a male prostitute. Cliff is infatuated with Butch from the first moment he sees him; however, while Butch appears fond of Cliff and strikes up a friendship with him, his career has forced him to develop a sense of emotional distance from others, and he isn't interested in sex with other men unless he's being paid for it. Cliff becomes a regular visitor to Butch's apartment and gets a crash course in the underbelly of the Toronto gay community, but one day Butch drafts Cliff into performing a sex act with him for a customer, leaving Cliff humiliated and heartbroken. Sugar also stars Sarah Polley and Maury Chaykin. Only the second feature film from respected theatrical director John Palmer, it was screened as part of the 2004 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

50% want to see it

2,504 ratings

Critics

86% liked it

7 critics

R, 1 hr. 18 min.

Directed by: John Palmer

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DVD Release Date: November 16, 2004

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Andre Noble rocks! SUGAR Butch! I love you, Butch! Sugar Brendan Fehr in SUGAR cute! Sugar Juvenile Delinquent! Sugar Sugar!
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Flixster Reviews (160)

  • LoughnerWasLucid
    December 16, 2009
    LoughnerWasLucid
    86% of critics liked this.... yea. well dont ask me, i dont know anything.
  • sainttom93
    July 16, 2007
    sainttom93
    The only thing that I'm dissappointed about is that you see everybody'd BUT Brendan -- Whom you want to see if you watch this movie -- hehehehe
  • danieljparsons
    October 22, 2007
    danieljparsons
    A surprisingly excellent, and considering the source material is from Bruce LeBruce, unexploitative drama based on semi-autobiographical short stories.

    Made on a shoe-string budget (and looking it), there's real talent here both behind and in front of the cameras. Director Joh

    ... read moren Palmer infuses the film with an energy that doesn't let up, with bravaura camera techniques shot on hand-held and a realistic lighting scheme. The story is pretty downbeat and depressing, as expected, but the characters don't wallow in self-pity and through the short running time we get to know them very well. There's little backstory but the characters already feel like they've been on a journey even when they've only just been introduced.

    The writing is provocative and the performances from Brendan Fehr, and in particular, Andre Noble (who died shortly after filming was complete from accidental poising) are superb, and there's a fantastic cameo from Sarah Polley.
  • SunilJawahir
    September 15, 2009
    SunilJawahir
    More interesting than entertaining but I did like it.
  • RicC
    June 27, 2009
    RicC
    Doesn't offer too much except for a glimpse into the lives of these cocaine-sniffing gays/bisexuals. One scene was difficult to watch, but funny at the same time.
  • MichelleasaurusRex
    January 25, 2009
    MichelleasaurusRex
    This movie was okay. It was really interesting to watch. It wasn't at all a waste of time, because this movie was really short. Worth it's time.
  • StaisilD
    December 14, 2008
    StaisilD
    The script for Sugar was based on several short stories by Bruce LaBruce. It is the story of Cliff, a normal teenager living in Toronto with his single mom and spooky wise-beyond-her-years sister Cookie. On the eve of Cliff's eighteenth birthday, twelve year-old Cookie gives her ... read morebrother some vodka, a joint, and and an admonition to "go have sex." He ends up heading downtown where he stumbles into a dark alley full of male hustlers his own age. There he meets hardened drug-addled professional Butch, and they seem to hit it off. The rest of the movie details Cliff's crush on Butch, and how the two influence each other in one boy's strange and the other's suburban ways. Cliff is about to become obsessed with "dirty" things, and Butch is going to be jealous of his friend's cushy homelife with a liberal mother and hyperactive but insightful sister. The film does a good job in this last regard, making it impossible to distinguish between the familiar pangs of restless youth and the plunge into the unknown that its protagonist makes. But lying immobile under the concept are the characters of Cliff and Butch, who don't come alive as people. The script is too opaque, never really explaining what draws the boys to each other or elucidating what they feel: they experiment with sex, make vulgar adolescent conversation, and drift through encounters with various tricks, but the attendant motives and emotions remain unclear. Sugar plays down the melodrama, in that AIDS is barely mentioned, the acceptance from Cliff's family is almost assumed and the excessive drug use is hardly condemned.
  • laeluriah
    May 25, 2008
    laeluriah
    I think this film is amazing! well worth the hunt to find. acting is spot on and the grittyness adds to the story line.

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Critic Reviews

Michael Phillips
April 17, 2009
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

can't imagine a baseball fan%u2014or a moviegoer%u2014who wouldn't respond on some level to the new film "Sugar," a rich and moving reminder of the way professional sports aspirations can shape someon... Full Review

Dennis Harvey
August 31, 2004
Dennis Harvey, Variety

This tale of tortured love between a gay youth and street hustler juggles a complex load of emotional and tonal colors within an admirably lean runtime. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
February 19, 2008
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

This probation of the American Dream, a highlight of the Sundance Film Festival, benefits from a wonderful lead performance by a nonprofessional actor Full Review

Rich Cline
March 17, 2005
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

A strong story with moments of insight and a vivid sense of mortality, but it's also scrappy and indulgent. Full Review

S. James Wegg
August 31, 2004
S. James Wegg, JWR

A screening of Sugar should become compulsory for all young men contemplating the transition from school-yard beat-offs to full-service drug and hustling lifestyles. Full Review

October 18, 2008
Hollywood Reporter

No review available.

September 4, 2004
Toronto Star

Click to read the article Full Review

December 6, 2005
Film Threat

Click to read the article Full Review

Harvey S. Karten
February 25, 2009
Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve

Click to read the article Full Review

January 25, 2008
Screen International

Click to read the article Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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