Searching for Sugar Man (2012)

This is a great story. Based on a real human life. The man wrote some great songs. So he was not as popular as Bob. He was an unappreciated artist here in 'merica, but obviously much appreciated elsewhere. Thank you mr.Sixto. Thank you mr. Film makers. I appreciate everything about this story. All you critics can just feck off.much love to you and yours, mr. Rodriguez.

If you haven't seen this movie you need to go in knowing as little as possible. It's about finding a singer named Rodriguez and leave it at that. To those who criticize that the movie is not an exhaustive biography I will dare to speak for the producer that it was never his intention. The story is about South Africa finding Sugar Man. That he was known in Australia and had some fame there doesn't change the facts of this story. The full biography of his life would be a film of its own and worth telling but that's true for any number of other films. I think you'll like the music. Even if you don't still watch the film.

*Spoiler Alert*Imagine if your idol, the one person who inspires you the most in your life, suddenly disappears. Then the rumors start—"He committed suicide", "It was the drugs", "He set himself on fire." The one person who's songs gave you so much joy, just gone. This is how the people of Africa felt when their beloved song artist Rodriquez falls off the face of the earth after selling over half a million records in that continent. This is the story of how a mystery man becomes famous in a place where everyone adores him and he has no idea. The mystery reels you in but the story keeps you hooked. One man from Africa makes it his duty to find the true story about what happened to Rodriguez. This story is a great example of the impact one person can have on so many other lives. This one man from Africa wants to bring joy back to his country, and in the process, shakes up Rodriguez's world as well. If this one man had not set out on a mission to find Rodriguez, his fans in Africa would still think he was dead, Rodriguez would still not know he was a star in Africa, and the people of America would still have no idea who he is. The impact that Rodriguez has when he goes back to Africa is a once in a lifetime experience. The atmosphere of the crowd is half excited and half in disbelief. The way Rodriguez so humbly takes it all in as he steps up onto the stage for the first time and says those tear-jerking words, "Thanks for keeping me alive" breaks through all those years that he was gone and makes them new. This is a beautiful story of mystery, homecoming, reunion, and fame. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who is looking for an inspirational film where the underdog overcomes adversity.

Sixto Rodriguez is a man. A man facing the back of a Detroit bar while performing original music that gives Bob Dylan a run for his money. His vanishing, the hunt for his legacy, and his eventual musical rebirth are covered in "Searching for Sugar Man" at a pace that's not only an impossible combination of hopeful and melancholic, but wholly refreshing for modern documentaries. For someone that does not know who Rodriguez is, this film will be an emotional roller coaster. To those that do, it will likely tug at your heart strings throughout, and leave you in disbelief at the story of his life before his miraculous revival thanks to curious, committed fans. With Rodriguez's music serving as a soundtrack, there's nothing to dislike about the editing and mixing choices on all fronts.Interviews conducted in public during "Sugar Man" have some of the most emotionally charged stories in recent memory; The interviewees, whether people that have worked with Rodriguez in Detroit or professionally in the music industry, will not only leave you wanting to know more about their connection to the titular comeback king, but about their hand in his life, mainly his unhinged South African revival. The staunch characterization of subjects in this film, some morally sound and some rather ambiguous, makes this film the opening to a realm of research, the shame being that the run time does not allow for more people touched by this previously unsung hero to step forward.Any gripe with this movie comes with the sparsely used animations or visuals that felt out of place in the film. Most explanations come from interviewees or those that conducted the research in finding their Apartheid rebellion hero, thus making the interjections seem dry.If ever there were a documentary that is completely pure of heart, only trying to see through the gossip and the lies perpetuated by world culture to find a warm reception and a truly happy ending (including a man being his best self without reaping the benefits of his hobbies) then "Searching for Sugar Man" is this documentary.