The Price of Sugar (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:18
Fresh:13
Rotten:5
Average Rating:6.6/10
Theatrical Release:Sep 26, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: Paul Newman narrates this documentary about the corrupt system surrounding sugar production in the Dominican Republic. Director Bill Haney follows the story of Father Christopher Hartley, a Spanish... [More]
Director: Bill Haney
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Reviews for The Price of Sugar
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These Haitian sugar slaves are starved, beaten, disappeared, malnourished, and lacking uncontaminated drinking water, even as other far more privileged foreigners frolic in the waters of the DR's tropical tourist paradise nearby. Full Review |
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 2/6 |
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Price of Sugar is 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. Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
It's been conceived and executed as an instrument of human rights and a tool of shame. But it's the political controversy that's at the heart of this movie -- the contempt that one poor country feels toward its somewhat poorer neighbor. Full Review |
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3/4 |
In this compelling documentary, narrated by Paul Newman, Hartley comes off as a man of intense will, and he needs to be. Full Review |
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... even those naturally sympathetic to the film's position may feel like they're taking their medicine. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Haney doesn't strive for balance, and he doesn't have to; the images speak for themselves. Full Review |
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The tainted relationship between the dessert on our tables and the suffering of those who produce it gets a horrifying workout in Bill Haney’s multilayered account of Haitian cane cutters in the Dominican Republic. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Illuminating and deeply distressing. Full Review |
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2.5/5 |
[A] no-frills doc, which isn't done any favors by Newman's monotone narration. Full Review |
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4/4 |
Uplifting and enraging in equal measures, Bill Haney's The Price of Sugar is a powerful issue-driven documentary that also happens to have one of the most compelling heroes of any movie this year. Full Review |
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3/5 |
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.
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5/5 |
A portrait of a modern-day saint, a courageous Spanish Catholic priest in the Dominican Republic with a ministry of compassion to poor, enslaved Haitian immigrants. One of the best documentaries of the year. Full Review |
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Few will doubt the priest's claims given the Dominican Republic's appalling human-rights record; one only wishes they had been explored in an objective documentary format. Full Review |
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Profoundly disturbing. Full Review |
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B+ |
A vivid, visual experience that will easily convince skeptics that slavery is alive and well. Full Review |
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In the end, this is a fevered tale of an outsider, spurred on by his belief in God, who believes his role in life is to save a people, and for a while it seems he is making a difference. What film can top that nowadays? Full Review |
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3/4 |
The director's investigation has a clear-sighted persuasiveness, as well as a formidable, complex central figure in the person of Father Christopher Hartley. Full Review |
CommentLatest News for The Price of Sugar
May 03, 2009:
These Haitian sugar slaves are starved, beaten, disappeared, malnourished, and lacking uncontaminated drinking water, even as other far more privileged foreigners frolic in the waters of the DR's tropical tourist paradise nearby. 
More...
September 09, 2008:
These Haitian sugar slaves are starved, beaten, disappeared, malnourished, and lacking uncontaminated drinking water, even as other far more privileged foreigners frolic in the waters of the DR's tropical tourist paradise nearby.
More...
December 14, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review
More...
November 20, 2007:
Fifteen Documentaries Vie for Oscar Consideration
A little over a week after reporting the names of the dozen films being submitted for Oscar consideration in the animated feature film category, Variety has given readers the... More...
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