RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

wes-connors To celebrate the coming of age eighteen, boyish virgin Andre Noble (as Cliff) hits the streets, with a bottle of vodka and a t. His nighttime cruising leads Mr. Noble directly to handsome bisexual hustler Brendan Fehr (as Butch). For Noble, it's love at first sight - but, Mr. Fehr has locked his closet with drugs and denial. Can two gay young men find love in a repressive society? The answer to that question should be obvious (which is unfortunate on more than one level). Although you can't (as yet) rattle off a series of mega-popular "coming of age" gay romances, the topic has been approached enough to make much of what happens in "Sugar" expected. But, the film is so well cast, and covers most of its ground so believably (based on stories told by Bruce La Bruce), it overcomes the predictable.John Palmer's "Sugar" is sweetest when Noble and Fehr are interacting on screen - it's a typical "anti-romance"; but, the two play it as well as James Dean and Sal Mineo might have. Little sister Haylee Wanstall (as Cookie) and mom Marnie Mhail (as Madge) are an unimaginably kwel family.Some graphic sexual content is integral to the film - one standout scene involves Fehr comionately satisfying an obese woman (Pat Butcher) - another (with Michael Riley) illustrates Fehr's inability to "legitimately" consummate his love for Noble. They are filmed well; but, was it really necessary to have everyone except the two lead actors go full frontal in the limo? In a tragedy having nothing to do with the plot of "Sugar", Noble died, shortly after its premiere. He would have, obviously, had additional success as an actor. Fehr bravely essays his role as the object of Noble's affection. By the way, his question to Noble about the "last time" is his directive/permission to move on..."We had fun, didn't we?" Yeah, it might have been a little scary, but it was fun.******* Sugar (2004) John Palmer ~ Andre Noble, Brendan Fehr, Haylee Wanstall

KedezzericOU Yes Twist was an excellent film. But it was also based on the Charles Dickens play Oliver Twist. This director took gritty scenes that are not based on a classic novel and made them life-like. The characters were well developed and engrossing (if you do not think that a kid can get drugs you are mistaken, i deal with delinquent juveniles for a job). Brandon Ferh's performance was astounding, i was completely in awe. He played the slow decent into complete oblivion with finesse which i hardly see in blockbuster movies anymore. The sex scenes which the first comment was based on were hardly graphic, for that i would watch Queer as Folk. I think the commenter made previous comment from a state of shock about actually seeing homo-erotic scenes. Well it was a homo-erotic story. Get over it.

Trent Nickson I don't understand the people who say that the movie has no depth. The most in depth character portrayal was of Butch - the hustler who seems like a really good guy underneath. I don't think it is a requirement to have any backstory to actually get this.The movie is also very amusing in parts - you just have to get the humour that is going on. At the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Film Festival showing that I saw, the majority of the audience got the humour and laughed along.In actual fact, you're dosed with the nice and amusing and even heartwarming, and then you get a complete smack in the head when Butch does something to his best buddy. I won't say anymore for fear of spoiling it.I didn't rate this film higher because of a couple of implausible things, such as the little sister (a complete laugh and a half, but implausible nonetheless), and how the film opens. From birthday bash to the streets in minutes. However, I did get the symbolism of the skateboard, which no-one else seems to have noticed or mentioned, and which I thought was rather good.Overall, I enjoyed the film very much, and would recommend it to just about anybody.

Libretio SUGAR Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: Dolby DigitalWhile celebrating his 18th birthday, a naive young man (Andre Noble) travels to the big city in search of his first sexual encounter and falls in love with a gorgeous twentysomething hustler (Brendan Fehr) who leads him into forbidden territory.Only his second feature in almost thirty years - the first was ME (1975) - theatre director John Palmer helmed this grim slice-of-life movie, based on the 'JD' stories by underground writer-filmmaker Bruce La Bruce (HUSTLER WHITE, THE RASPBERRY Reich, etc.). Uncompromising in its approach to sex and drugs and everything in between, SUGAR follows Noble into the dark heart of Toronto's street culture, blinded by his feelings for beautiful bisexual hustler Fehr (a long way from "Roswell High"), who ends up using Noble as a pawn in his relentless quest for self-gratification. Palmer's script (co-written with Jaie Laplante and Todd Klinck) depicts Fehr's world as an alien landscape where addicts and sex workers struggle to retain their humanity: There's an extraordinary scene in which Fehr masturbates a clinically obese client (Pat Butcher) in her own home, after she's spent months saving the $300 needed to buy his services, a deed which Noble later describes as 'an act of comion', and which is treated as such by filmmakers and actors alike.Working on a microscopic budget (the movie was photographed on digital video and transferred to 35mm for theatrical exhibition), Franklin relies on his actors to sell the drama, and they all come up trumps: Noble is quite superb as Fehr's unwitting devotee, more than willing to submerge himself in the older man's lifestyle, until he's forced to participate in one of Fehr's tricks (a haunting, difficult sequence). Fehr shatters his squeaky-clean TV image with a no-holds-barred performance as the street-wise prostitute who sells his beauty to the highest bidder, only to find himself increasingly dependent on hard drugs, a dependency which spirals into paranoia and self-destruction. Celebrated character actor Maury Chaykin (OWNING MAHOWNY) appears briefly as one of Fehr's regular customers, and Sarah Polley (DAWN OF THE DEAD) plays a young addict who asks Noble to marry her and provide a father figure for her unborn child (he declines). The film contains frontal nudity in abundance, but not from the two leads, both of whom are nevertheless displayed in various states of undress throughout; very little of it is even remotely sexy, and that's entirely in keeping with the film's downbeat tone.The definition of a 'promising young actor', Noble began his career on stage in his native Canada, specializing in Shakespearean roles, and later co-founded The Young Company (later renamed The Noble Players) in Toronto with fellow actor Matt Austin. After brief appearances in high profile gay films TWIST (2003) and PROM QUEEN: THE MARC HALL STORY (2004), he landed his first leading role in SUGAR, for which he garnered hugely positive reviews on the festival circuit. Sadly, whilst on a short break from publicizing the film in July 2004, Noble died of aconitine poisoning after accidentally consuming a lethal dose of monkshood sap during a boat trip to Silver Fox Island, Newfoundland. He was 25.