Best movie of this year hands down!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

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.

Many people know the names of Michael Jackson, or bands like the Beatles. But very few people will know the name Sixto Rodriguez. He wrote two well received but low selling albums that were only popular in very few places like South Africa. This documentary shows a heartwarming tale about an unknown artist's musical impact on the small population that listened to his music. Music is a unique art form which impacts peoples' lives daily by having the ability to teach someone a new idea while still be entertaining at the same time. This allows it to make positive effects on the world by giving the listeners a good message and help influencing them to possibly help out the world.The director Malik Bendjelloul, puts us through a journey of discovering who Sixto Rodriguez was. This helps you be able to learn who this singer is and what his morals and principles were. Bendjelloul skillfully structures the documentary to make you wonder what happened to this unknown singer. Until finally the search to whatever happens to this singer comes with an unexpected twist. He manages to make you wonder why this man was not popular because his two albums were mostly positive from critics. Could it be from bad luck or another example of the music industry taking advantage of an artist's talent? The only way to find out is by watching it yourself. This documentary does deserve to be seen but not only for its heartwarming tale but ability to show how music can positively change people's worldview.

"Searching for Sugar Man", an academy award winning documentary and mystery all rolled into one tells the unusual story of a man whose music was incredibly successful told mainly by a man known as "Sugar".Sixto Rodriguez, more commonly known as Rodriguez was a pioneer to anti-establishment lyrics, became very popular in South Africa during their revolution in the 1970s. Although his music was well known, he was not. Rodriguez was a mysterious man of few words. As stated in the film, ironically his first album was named "Cold Fact" but it was nearly impossible to find a cold fact about him. Even the people who played with him did not know him very well. One of the most intriguing elements of the documentary is that is music was extremely popular in South Africa, but living in the United States, he had no idea. There were suspicions that Rodriguez had been scammed out of the royalties that he should have been receiving every time he sold an album. Rumors flew around that Rodriguez had killed himself. The hunt to find out why this mystery man committed suicide ends in a way no one could have foreseen. This film encases such wild turns of events that it will leave you wanting to know about Rodriguez even after watching the film.

***SPOILER ALERT!!!*** Searching for Sugar Man, directed by Malik Bendjelloul, is one of the better, should be considered one of the best documentaries. The manner in which the documentary unfolds is well structured. They do not actually introduce Rodriguez as an actual contributor in the documentary until he is announced to not be dead. Throughout the film the rumor is referenced that he (Rodriguez) killed himself by gunshot or by setting himself on fire. This South African legend has been living in the United States for years without people even caring. That man was nothing in America but a legend across the seas. Once the crew found him he was as humble as they come. The entire time the documentary was going all the music provided were songs by The Sugar Man himself which was another cool aspect to the movie. Light played a huge part in the film as well. During the beginning of the film it was dark and mysterious just as he was. The audience was never shown his face during the first half of the film and most times he was shown it was dark. Once the crew found him in the states he was such a happy man. The film became light then after he was informed of his success and how many people actually followed his music. It also differs from the fact that most failed musicians never amount to anything. However, he didn't let that "failure" get him down. He still was a hardworking man and even after finding out about his success was still a hardworking man. This is a great documentary showing that true talent will always reward the beholder.