Sugar (2004)

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

Director:

John Palmer

Writers:

Todd Klinck, Bruce La Bruce (short stories)

Stars:

Andre Noble, Marnie McPhail, Haylee Wanstall

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A provocative and challenging coming-of-age story between Cliff, a restless suburban teen, and Butch, a street hustler, on the eve of his 18th birthday. Butch challenges Cliff's sheltered upbringing by exposing him to a different world that changes Cliff forever.

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Plot Keywords:

gay | male frontal nudity | male nudity | male full frontal nudity | penis | 

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Taglines:

Everyone has a fix.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 June 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Сладкий

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Real Films,Actra Tip,On the Stroll Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References I Love Lucy (1951)

User Reviews

Disturbing and depressing but fascinating

Cliff (Andre Noble) has just turned 18 and is a virgin...and is gay. He sneaks into the city to meet a guy. He runs into hot hustler Butch (Brendan Fehr) and (understandably) falls in love. Butch seems to fall for Cliff also...but Butch is getting addicted to drugs and threatens to bring Cliff down with him.

This is definitely not for everybody. It's fairly graphic--there's full frontal male nudity (not on Fehr or Noble though), drug abuse, plenty of sexual talk and has simulated sex acts performed with gusto. It's also one of the most depressing films I have ever seen. Still I couldn't stop watching. Basically it's a coming of age story about Cliff...but I found him incredibly annoying. I realize actor Noble died at a far too young age, but frankly I found his acting here fairly dreadful. His attraction to Fehr comes through but most of the time I couldn't figure out WHAT he was thinking...or playing. Also he looks just horrible through most of the film. On the other hand Fehr is excellent. This must have been a difficult role but he pulls it off brilliantly. He shows all sides of his character Butch. He's sometimes funny, sometimes cruel and, at the end, heartbreaking. Fehr has to pull off some explicit sexual scenes and does it wonderfully. He's also very handsome and has a great body. For those who care he does show his butt briefly. I found the character of Butch so much more interesting than the increasingly annoying Cliff.

The film is shot on video leading to a pretty grimy picture. The color is faded, some of the camera work is shaky and things aren't exactly crystal clear. The sound sometimes fades in and out too. Still this is a fascinating if disturbing movie. See it for Fehr. I give it an 8.