It would be simple to write off Half Nelson, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s feature directorial debut, as a “fluke” but when the duo follow it up with a film as wonderful as Sugar, that initial thought is quickly dismissed.

Miguel ‘Sugar’ Santos is a young man whose life is baseball. Hailing form a small town in the Dominican Republic Sugar, as he is nicknamed, is called up for training camp in the US. Things go well for the talented pitcher who is then drafted into the minor leagues and shipped off to play baseball in small town Iowa, a place where everyone appears to live and breathe baseball. Sugar adjusts well to his new life and slowly, he begins to learn the language, the customs and he even becomes involved in some extra curricular activities but things start to fall apart. He suffers a minor injury, begins to lose focus on the field and eventually is relegated to relief pitcher.

Though the film focuses it’s attention mostly on Sugar’s rise and fall from grace, it also provides one of the best looks at the inner workings of baseball I’ve ever seen (or at least seen since I recently caught up with that long ago Kevin Costner film Bull Durham). We see the struggles faced by young players being drafted in far off places for a fraction of what their American counterparts are paid and outside of the common place knowledge that if you don’t work out, there’s a younger, better version coming up the ranks to replace you, there’s the added pressure of knowing that if you are replaced, you’ll be returning home. But while baseball is an integral part of the story, the true wonder is the character of Sugar.

Newcomer Algenis Perez Soto’s lead performance is nothing short of a marvel. The filmmakers’ decision to shoot much of the film sequentially gave Soto the opportunity to grow and in many instances, share first experiences with the character. Perhaps that is the reason he works so well, there’s rawness to his performance, in the role but Soto also brings great charisma to the character. The performance is that much more poignant thanks to the script and the filmmakers who are able to capture emotion so well.

It’s easy to become attached to Sugar, a charming character who obviously wants to succeed both for himself and his family, but it takes great talent to translate that likability to emotional connection and the successful marriage of the two is what makes the film a true gem. By the time Sugar arrives in the US, the emotional attachment is so great that my stomach was in knots and the pain of every missed pitch was almost tangible.

Beyond the emotional pull, there’s the simple fact that Fleck, Boden and cinematographer Andrij Parekh know how to make even the most inane and commonplace moments look wonderful. Much of the film takes place on the baseball diamond yet the constant return to the field never looks the same, a fact I can appreciate all the more because I’m not a big baseball fan.

With all of the praise come a few criticisms. Though I loved the first scene in which the directors chose to use music rather than dialog to convey an emotion, I found the later scenes which used the same technique hollow. I was also taken aback by the unfolding of events once Sugar arrives in New York – it all seemed too neat and easy – but these are minor qualms about an otherwise wonderful film.

Sugar is a rarity. A sports film with heart that manages to tell a personal story while also shedding some light on the game, I look forward to revisit it when it opens in 2009. This time, I’ll know to pack the Kleenex.