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Price of Sugar, The
Uncommon Productions


10.0

based on 11 reviews
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How did we calculate this?

based on 2 votes
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MPAA RATING:

Starring Paul Newman

The Price of Sugar follows a charismatic Spanish priest, Father Christopher Hartley, as he organizes some of this hemisphere's poorest people to challenge powerful interests profiting from their work. When he arrives in the Dominican Republic, he's warned against entering the sugar plantations where most of his parishioners live. Breaking a centuries-old taboo, he discovers shocking examples of modern-day slavery intrinsic to the global sugar trade. (Uncommon Productions)

GENRE(S):	Documentary
WRITTEN BY:	Peter Rhodes Bill Haney
DIRECTED BY:	Bill Haney
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: September 28, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	90 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA / Dominican Republic
LANGUAGE(S):	English / Spanish

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Chicago Tribune Geoff Berkshire

Explores an unheralded but emotionally affecting issue in a straight-forward and engaging manner.

Los Angeles Times Lael Loewenstein

Still, as compelling as The Price of Sugar is, it also represents a squandered opportunity. A stronger connection could have been made between the film's subject and our own responsibility as consumers.

The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber

While the political implications of the film are provocative, "Sugar" also happens to be an impressive cinematic achievement. This picture has a visual sweep that many docu films lack; the plantations and nearby towns are vividly evoked.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Out of this sorry tale of human trafficking emerges a fascinating portrait of this handsome, pugnacious, one-man NGO, who left a cushy life with his patrician Anglo-Spanish family to work with Mother Theresa and devote himself to the oppressed.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

It's still difficult to find accurate information about where and when Bill Haney's profoundly disturbing documentary The Price of Sugar will be opening commercially in the United States. Partly this is because the Vicini family, sugar barons of the Dominican Republic, have hired Patton Boggs, a major Washington law firm, to try to halt the film's release, or at least paint it as slanted and defamatory.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Designed to educate, outrage and finally spur viewers to action. That it does so with vibrant visual style and an engaging narrative makes it that rare consciousness-raising film that's not only good for you, but a joy to watch.

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

This documentary has no bells and whistles; Bill Haney, the director and co-writer (with Peter Rhodes), sticks to the facts.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

The film is unabashedly supportive of Father Hartley, presenting him as a stubborn saint, and depicts the wealthy owners as soulless villains. Presumably they have a different story to tell, but we wouldn't know: When the camera's on, none can be found.

Variety Joe Leydon

A solid and affecting piece of work.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Offers yet another example of how a lot of what we consume is produced at somebody else's expense. In this case, it's sugar.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Like most documentary polemics, it simplifies the issues it confronts and selects facts that bolster its black-and-white, heroes-and-villains view of raw economic power.

The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Christa T. gave it a10:
This movie is an eye-opening example of things we take for granted that are destructing countries, cultures, families, and individuals around the world. There is really no reason not to see The Price of Sugar.

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Price of Sugar, The Uncommon Productions

Price of Sugar, The
Uncommon Productions