Sing Sing – This Prison Drama Treads The Boards Divinely
Ken Jones, OnScreen Blog Chief Film Critic
We see a lot of movies that say they are based on a true story. Director Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing is unique among them. While the film features actor Colman Domingo in the starring role, most of the rest of its cast features nonprofessional actors portraying themselves in this moving drama about a group of inmates at Sing Sing prison who use acting and theater as a sanctuary and escape from their life behind prison walls.
At the center of the story of Sing Sing is Domingo’s John Whitfield, aka Divine G. Divine G was wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit and is part of a group of inmates that participate in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility. After completing a performance, the group looks at potential new members, one of whom is Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who comes across as one of the rougher inmates in the prison. Under the guidance of theatre director Brent Buell (Paul Raci), the group performs a completely original comedic performance.
Sing Sing defies convention in more ways than one. In addition to featuring several former inmates portraying themselves, the film also largely sidesteps any violence that is to be expected in a movie about inmates behind prison walls. There are the occasional threats of violence, but nothing comes out of it. In one of the earlier scenes in the film, Divine G and his closest friend Mike Mike (Sean San Jose) observe Divine Eye hustle a newbie in the yard to come up with a sum of money for him soon or face the consequences.
The story revolves mainly around Divine G and Divine Eye, their acting approach, and how acting transforms them. Domingo’s Divine G is a fledgling playwright but not quite ready to make his material public to the rest of the group, so they opt for a comedy that Brent writes up based on all of their suggestions. The end result is a play called “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code” that incorporates classic characters and time travel.
Divine G is considered the best actor in the group and finds solace in the acting exercises and comradery of the group. In parallel to throwing himself into acting with the RTA, Divine G is also preparing for a parole hearing and fighting to appeal his conviction.
These two tracks cross each other at two crucial scenes in the film. The first is when he rehearses what to say to his parole board with Mike Mike. The second takes place in the actual parole hearing when a question is asked of him as to whether he is acting for them. It is an emotional scene in how impassioned he is about how he has benefitted from acting and how hurt he is at how misunderstood he is by the parole board members.
Divine Eye, on the other hand, while applying to the group, is initially reluctant to embrace it and give the necessary vulnerability that acting requires. He finds the exercises silly and pointless. Despite his reluctance to open up, he plays a prominent role in the play.
There are some great rehearsal scenes where Divine Eye gets freaked out by someone walking behind him. In prison, that would be threatening, but here, someone is just trying to hit their mark. One of the other actors defuses the situation by explaining what it is about the RTA that is different because it gives them a chance to be human again and enjoy the things that are not in their reality.
Shortly after that, Divine Eye gives Hamlet’s “To Be Or Not To Be” speech but doesn’t deliver it convincingly. Divine G manages to break through to him in this moment to channel personal experience into the character and coax the performance out of him that they are looking for.
This is a film with heart. There are moments of levity and uplift, like the audition process and a test performance of a scene for the prison’s executive board that is comically tone-deaf in content given its audience. An acting exercise scene gives a glimpse into the interior lives of several of them when asked to think of their perfect spot or perfect moment, and a few of them share where their minds go. But there are more than a few emotional moments, too, as unforeseen tragedy hits the group, and circumstances cause Divine G to question his purpose and faith in what he is doing with the group.
It may be too pat to reference The Shawshank Redemption and how Andy speaks of hope being a good thing, but it rings true with a film like Sing Sing. Buoyed by impressive performances by the film’s nonprofessional actors, it packs an emotional punch. It’s a film about the transformative power of the arts and the arts being a force for good in a community, even a community behind prison walls.
It also shows the humanity of people whom we so easily dehumanize and ignore as a society.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars