On the face of it, the movie Sugar and the HBO series Eastbound and Down don't really belong in the same blog post. Except that at one point while watching the movie I found myself thinking the two main characters, Miguel "Sugar" Santos and Kenny Powers, could easily cross paths, though that would probably end badly. Both the movie and the film also happen to be about baseball players--indeed, both Powers and Santos are pitchers, and both characters' situations offer commentary on U.S. professional baseball. Both heroes suffer; they struggle with the ladies and with their slumps. Life without baseball is fairly unimaginable. The similarities pretty much end right about there. Well, actually they don't. But I don't want to give any spoilers.
So I'll stick to character analysis. Miguel is far too humble and serious to live his life by Powers's mottos: "If at first you don't succeed, maybe you just suck," and "Why give 100% when 35 can get you paid and laid?" Nor would he write--ahem co-write--a memoir titled "You're Fucking Out, I'm Fucking In," a memoir Powers listens to on cassette while driving in his truck and also while lifting weights. Powers is far more hilarious and infinitely more quotable, thanks to the work of EBD's creator Will Ferrell (who also plays a hilarious bleach-blond BMW salesman).
And however much you might enjoy sitting around with friends recalling curse-filled zingers delivered by Powers, like we pretty much did all weekend with C and E, Sugar is the character that will actually stick with you, his courage matched only by his comparative silence.
