THE STORY – Ryan “Holli-wood” Holliger is a charismatic pit bull of a man with six kids by five different women. His best friend AccRite is a rapper and laborer, dealing with an unimaginable loss. They have big dreams of making their own movie about fatherhood in their working-class Missouri town. Over the course of one pivotal, madcap year, the film becomes something else entirely: a vehicle for accountability, healing and self-discovery for their families.
THE CAST – Ryan Holliger, Michael Midgyett, Amanda Sanner, Gavin Jones, Wayde Holliger, Bonnie Holliger, Hank Holliger, Tray Martin, Candy Woods, Ashley Long & Auveon Jackson
THE TEAM – Robert Greene (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 98 Minutes
US documentary filmmaker Robert Greene has tackled a variety of themes in his movies. Some of them deal with extremely delicate topics, such as “Kate Plays Christine”, which depicts Kate Lyn Sheil’s preparation for portraying the newscaster Christine Chubbuck, who committed suicide on live TV. Or “Procession,” which follows six men who were abused by priests. However, his latest feature “Too Much Sugar” has more in common with his feature “Fake It So Real” (about a group of pro wrestlers) in that it focuses on the working-class underbelly of US society by following a particular close-knit group.
Set in Moberly, an archetypal working-class Missouri town, ostensibly “Too Much Sugar” is about Ryan “Holli-wood” Holliger, who describes himself as “a carpenter, a fighter, a father”. Yet the film is also about family – and the many guises it can take. The title comes from Holliger’s grandmother who, when he was running riot, used to exclaim: “Boy you had too much sugar!”, and this is Holliger’s explanation for why he has managed to father six children with five different women. Of those five, only one is given ample screentime: Amanda is his long-suffering partner who has lovingly and patiently created a functioning family unit from all the disparate pieces. The film delves into Holliger’s relationships with all these kids as well as with Amanda and his mother Candy, but it particularly looks at male friendship. Across the road from Holliger is Michael “AccRite” Midgyett and his family. AccRite works alongside Holliger and they play together too – their kids are in and out of each other’s homes and lives. One child is missing, though, dead at 16 in a mass shooting at a party.
Holliger’s aim is to work alongside Greene to create his own film, and thus this is a film within a film. But there are also some other films within his own film, creating a Chinese box of mini movies. Each family member is asked what their movie would be, and then they get to make it and star in it. Candy wants a horror movie, Amanda wants a mom-swap film, and tellingly, Holliger’s son Gavin wants to make a short called “Too Much Anger”. AccRite’s film, entitled “Rewind”, provides a heartbreaking moment: in his film, AccRite’s daughter Auveon plays her dead brother, only this time, Accrite gets to rewind the action and take his son home. It’s a moment of catharsis and connection between grieving father and daughter.
Despite Holliger’s insistence that he is a good guy, wanting to make a movie about fathers because he didn’t have one, there are some telling moments in the film, not least of all when his son says that the film needs to validate Amanda and the kids, not Holliger. He also asks: “Is my father a narcissistic person?” Well, he might be, but he does seem to genuinely support and encourage his children. He appears to be a good friend to Accrite and he is unafraid to communicate and show love and affection. Is his film a way of making amends? If so, does he go far enough? Four out of the five mothers to Holliger’s children don’t get any say. The one who does is articulate about his lack of contrition and unwillingness to commit to her.
Unfortunately, despite all the kids and all the movies-within-the-movie, and notwithstanding some truly moving scenes – and an unexpected denouement –Holliger’s life and Greene’s film are not quite interesting enough to merit all this screentime. Because it plays as a docudrama, the lines are blurred as to when we are watching something “real” and when the action is staged. But maybe that is Greene’s aim: if Holliger’s contrition and willingness to be so open and communicative are just an act, then maybe everything should look a little staged. Where does the real emotion appear? In AccRite’s case, his feelings are clearly genuine. Amanda, Candy and the children also bare their emotions for the camera. Is Holliger for real? I guess that is for him to know and for us to conjecture. Greene seems happy to leave us to make up our own minds.
