Searching for Sugar Man is ultimately an ode to Rodriguez's artistic modesty and the power of his music—a rousing crowd-pleaser that asks you to save questions for another film.
Searching for Sugar Man exploits the fringe legend that's sprung up around a label-dropped casualty (as well as our own naïveté as viewers who want to discover a lost genius) to produce a diverting but frustrating quasiprofile, one that doesn't have the answers to its own questions.
The film does an admirable, if a bit uneven job of looping themes of money, art, lifestyle, and myth together, and when Bendjelloul finally sits down and gets to interview his humble, elusive subject, the payoff is immense.