Review of Sugar

Sugar (I) (2004)
8/10
Disturbing and depressing but fascinating
22 March 2008
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.
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