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| Plot Synopsis 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 Cliff 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, All Movie Guide Reviews RICH CLINE Shadows On The Wall Based on typically genre-busting short stories by Bruce LaBruce, this Canadian drama tells a rough and gritty coming of age tale from the mean streets of Toronto. It's a strong story with moments of insight and a vivid sense of mortality, but it's also scrappy and indulgent. On his 18th birthday, Cliff (Noble) is urged by his precocious baby sister Cookie (Wanstall) to get out of the house, take a few drugs and have sex. So he leaves the middle-class suburbs for the rough side of town, where he meets Butch (Fehr), a handsome rent boy with a crack problem. Without having sex, a tender romance develops as Butch and Cliff introduce each other to their respective worlds. Everyone is almost pathologically accepting, right up to the moment when it all goes horribly wrong. Basically, this is an extended odyssey into adulthood, by way of drugs, pimps and the kind of sexual awakening no one wants. Unsurprisingly for a LaBruce story, it works for Cliff, and he emerges with an odd balance of caution and carelessness. We only submit ourselves to this jittery, unfocussed film because the actors give these people an internal dignity. Noble (who died in a tragic accident just after the film's premiere) is especially strong in a difficult role, nicely capturing Cliff's steely vulnerability. Fehr is surprisingly sympathetic as a promising young guy bent on self-destruction. And Polley (as a pregnant dealer) and Chaykin (as a filthy old man) are superb. So it's a pity that the film feels so random. Director-cowriter Palmer tells the story as an inside joke we'll never understand. The script is packed with stilted dialog and scenes that desperately try to justify the characters (including one scene that presents prostitution as an act of charity). As a result, even with strong central characters it's hard to feel for anyone. Especially when Palmer tries so hard to generate emotion. His message seems to be that we reject real love at our own peril. But he seems to be missing the real point here. |
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| SUGAR 2004 - Canada - 78 min. - Feature, Color Director - John Palmer |
| Genre/Type - Comedy Drama, Gay & Lesbian Films, Coming-of-Age Artistic/ Production Styles - Digital Video Flags - Drug Content, Not For Children, Sexual Situations Keywords - prostitute/prostitution, homosexual, sex, sexual-awakening, teenagers, Canada, coming-of-age Themes -Innocence Lost, Sexual Awakening, First Love Tones -Reflective, Quirky, Poignant, Matter-of-Fact, Intimate, Earthy, Earnest, Compassionate, Bittersweet Moods -Comedy on the Edge Produced by -Defiant Entertainment / JB&A Films Released by -ThinkFilm DVD Street Date -Nov 16, 2004 Screen Formats -Letterbox for 16x9 TVs Sound -Dolby Digital Stereo Studio -Tla DVD Sides -1 Features -Widescreen / 2.0 Dolby Stereo Cast Brendan Fehr -- Butch Andre Noble -- Cliff Haylee Wanstall -- Cookie Maury Chaykin -- Stanley Michael Riley -- The Man Marnie McPhail -- Madge Sarah Polley -- Pregnant Girl |
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