ABOUT MOVIE

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck made a noteworthy narrative feature debut with Half Nelson, and they establish themselves as filmmakers of uncommon integrity, compassion, and vision with their superb follow-up, Sugar. While the film deals with familiar elements -- it is a fish-out-of-water story and a sports drama -- the filmmakers scrupulously avoid cliché, and in their own unobtrusively artful way, subvert audience expectations.