Growing Up at the "Lucky U Ranch" Trailer Court

Chubby eleven-year-old Junior (Trevor Robins) awkwardly lowers himself onto the tracks. The hollow whistle of a train dissolves into the heckling of cruel classmates - a fresh memory of being bullied at school. He puts his ear to the rail listening for the far off roar of a train. Trains hold a special wonder for Junior as he dreams of escaping to follow in the footsteps of his father. Startled awake by an old-timey locomotive in his dream, he picks up his discarded school books and wistfully tramps home through the harsh desert to the end of the trail: the Lucky U Ranch trailer court. 

Junior has plenty of time to daydream left alone in their trailer while his mother works long hours to support them. His longing for a father is always just under the surface. It comes out in fantasies where he plays a film noir private eye who rescues a little girl. The police detective raves, “Once again you saved the day. Your father would be proud.” His mystified mother (Harris Kendall) is doing the best she can. She can see how much he needs a father. She allows him his fantasies to protect him from the painful truth. But his expansive fantasy life is only making matters worse. When he misses the ball while daydreaming out in left field, he is ridiculed by his classmates.

Then, one day, a shiny Air-stream backs in next to their dilapidated trailer. A vision in pigtails chases her dog into his yard. Melissa (Donovan Droege) asks him to teach her to play jacks, and in exchange she gives him much needed baseball lessons. I love the way this confident pre-teen girl doesn’t shy away from sharing her expertise while coaching. She enjoys his sense of humor and really gets him. There are people who appear in your life just when you need them to teach you a pivotal lesson, and Melissa is one of those angels. Despite dealing with alcoholic parents that fight all the time, she saves Junior. Empowered by their friendship, Junior gains the confidence and courage he needs to face reality and to handle a life altering event.  

The running theme is one that many of us can relate to – longing for the love and approval of an absentee parent. It brought back my own fantasies of running away to find my birth father or of my father just showing up and being so proud of me that he was sorry he ever left. It takes real courage to accept them for who they are, faults and all.

This touching coming of age story draws from writer/producer Ginia Desmond’s years at the Lucky U Ranch trailer court. Like the character of Melissa, she was stuck in a trailer with alcoholic parents who fought. And baseball was one of the joys of her young life.

Guided by director Steve Anderson, the bond between the two child actors is so natural. Brian Shanley’s beautiful cinematography creates a melancholy atmosphere using our stunning desert to good effect.  Production designer Adam Sydney enhances Tucson’s small town feel with a keen attention to detail that gives "Lucky U Ranch" an authentic, nostalgic fifties vibe.

This Tucson-based indie does Arizona proud.

Movie blessings! 

Jana Segal-Stormont

www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com

"Sugar"

I'll admit up front that I don't like sports. But I love a good sports movie. I think it's because sports movies are really chick films for guys. Brian's Song is a tear jerker where the main character dies. In most good sports films we root for the team to win. My favorites are character driven with universal themes like personal redemption ("Hoosiers"), coping with a shattered dream and failure ("Bull Durham"), or coming of age ("Breaking Away"). Sports films can tackle important issues like racism ("Remember the Titans.") They can lift your spirit like "Field of Dreams." I think people love sports films (and perhaps sports) because we are inspired by the triumph of the human spirit.

So I was thrilled to do a Reel Inspiration review of the quality indie sports flick, "Sugar." The film begins with a new twist on an old genre. We are introduced to the world of baseball training camps in the Dominican Republic and Sugar - a minor league hopeful with a killer fast ball. The ball players in the program are drilled in basic, or should I say, baseball English. ("Fly ball!" "I got it!" "Home run!") Back in their home town, these players are treated like local celebrities. The families' hopes and dreams for a better life depend on them being chosen to play in the minor leagues in American.

"Sugar" isn't your typical sports flick. The filmmakers (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck who directed the acclaimed "Half Nelson") take time and care to set up their close knit community in the world they are leaving behind. We root for Sugar to get into the minor leagues so he can help his family financially. But once in America, he has problems acclimating because he doesn't speak the language well. Sugar complains to his girlfriend back home that the food is too sweet (because the only menu item he knows how to pronounce is french toast.) He is recruited to a minor league team in Iowa where there is only one other player who can speak his language. Then Sugar's one friend is fired for not performing well after an injury. Actor Algenis Perez plays Sugar as bitter-sweet as he silently expresses his increasing isolation and loneliness. He must examine his dream of being a professional baseball player in America. This is where the film becomes about the immigrant experience and discovering what is important in life. There is no big play off game where we root for the team to win. Just life.

"Sugar" wins it's place with the great sports films that inspire us through the triumph of the human spirit and by giving us a greater understanding of the immigrant experience in America.

Movie blessings!
Jana Segal
www.reelinspiration.blogspot.com