Sugar (2004/I)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

John Palmer

Writers:

Todd Klinck (writer)
Bruce La Bruce (short stories)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Everyone has a fix.

Plot:

Troubled suburban teen Cliff hooks up with a hustler from the streets of Toronto's gay ghetto.

Plot Keywords:

Birthday | Coming Of Age | Drug Addict | First Gay Sexual Experience | Precocious Child

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Andre Noble	...	Cliff
Marnie McPhail	...	Madge
Haylee Wanstall	...	Cookie
Dorothy Gordon	...	Ancient Waitress
Jeffrey Parazzo	...	Flex
Alastair Moir	...	Lil' Bro
Michael Barry	...	Shayne
Brendan Fehr	...	Butch
Balázs Koós	...	Shade (as Balasz Koos)
Sarah Polley	...	Pregnant Girl
Nina Arsenault	...	Nina
Tulsi Balram	...	Alina
David MacLean	...	Andrea
Alexander Chapman	...	Natasha
Misakiu	...	Rocio

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexual content including dialogue, violence, language and drug material.

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Canada:18A | Germany:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

New Real Films

Movie Connections:

References "I Love Lucy" (1951)

Bruce La Bruce take on teen romance.

Based on short stories by Bruce La Bruce, this is NOT your typical teen romance.

Cliff is just turned 18 and is aching to spread his gay wings a bit. He's never been with another boy but he knows he wants to. His single mom is cool and accepting and though she tries to shelter both of her children she's got her hands full with Cookie, Cliff's precocious "hyper-even-on-Ritalin" sister. Just one example of the kid sis's pluck... for Cliff's birthday she gives big brother Cliff a mini bottle of Vodka, a joint and instructions to go get laid.

Cliff follows his little sister's instructions and heads downtown where he meets Butch, a crack addicted street hustler with heart of gold and sexy eyes.

Cliff thinks that he's game for anything and disregards Butch's protestations that he's trouble. Cliff and Butch quickly become an item and Cliff tries a smörgåsbord of drugs, gets a tattoo that matches Butch's and even accompanies Butch on a trick.

Obviously this isn't gonna turn out well, but unlike many other movies of this ilk, Cliff realizes it and pulls back. He's been changed forever by his experiences and while he's better for what he's lived through, he's unable to help Butch and he sees him drifting away knowing he's powerless to change someone else.

What makes this different from other films of this type are the realizations that are presented to us. For example, just how much Cliff has changed is really brought home in one scene where another kid from his high school tries to ask Cliff to the prom. Cliff realizes that he's got almost nothing in common with this young man that could have easily been him had he NOT met Butch.

Another example is a trick that Butch has with an extremely obese woman. While Butch protests that he did it for the money, Cliff and the audience know that Butch did it as an act of compassion.

Cliff is played by Andre Noble an adorable young man with great puppy-dog eyes. Butch is played by Brendan Fehr who played Michael in the WB series Roswell.