Searching For Sugar Man (2012)

Sixto Rodriguez: America's Cast Away

Sony's documentaries are usually pretty great. I picked this up hoping it would be another "Devil in Daniel Johnston" (one of my favorite music documentaries ever), but it wasn't nearly as good. I still enjoyed it, though. 
 
It's difficult to write about this film without revealing too much about it, so this will be a short synopsis. The mononymous "Rodriguez" was a mystical folk singer who recorded two albums for the Sussex label in the early 1970s. Both albums tanked here in the states and he disappeared into obscurity. Somehow, a copy of his first album, "Cold Fact", made it's way to South Africa and it spread like wildfire becoming a huge sensation there on par with The Beatles and "bigger than Elvis". This background information is given in the opening lines of this documentary, followed by a matter-of-fact account of Rodriguez dousing himself in lighter fluid,setting himself ablaze and killing himself during a poorly received concert.

One day, while visiting with one of his American friends, Cape Town native Stephen Segerman was shocked to learn that nobody in America had even heard of Rodriguez. He assumed that because he was so popular in South Africa, he must have been hugely popular in his own country, but that just wasn't the case. When Rodriguez's second album, "Coming From Reality", was finally issued on CD in South Africa in 1996, Segerman was invited to contribute to the liner notes. Within those notes he solicited further biographical information, should any exist. It was a long shot and  an open-ended request, but music journalist Craig Bartholomew Strydom was already wondering about the circumstances surrounding Rodriguez's death and got in touch offering his help. People loved Rodriguez's music, but nobody knew anything about him. The cryptic album art and lack of liner notes left only his lyrics as clues. What follows is the search for "Sugar Man".

There wasn't much to work with in making this documentary, I assume. The interviews with the players in Rodriguez's career were interesting, but there weren't very many of them to speak of. The big reveal is given away early on in the film and was predictable from the very beginning. The problem is that it didn't leave much to fill the rest of the running time. This documentary succeeded in introducing me to his music, though, which is terrific. It's my understanding that with the exception of this film's soundtrack, his music has been out of print here in America since 1971. If a CD containing both of his albums in their entirety existed, I'd happily purchase a copy today.

This was entertaining enough, but I wouldn't have bought it if I had watched it first. My wife paid for it and gave it to me for my birthday, so that works for me. If you have the chance, see it, but don't go out of your way to do so.

3.5/5

 (Watch the trailer at your own risk as it gives away more about the film than I have above.)