"SING SING" - REVIEW
Here’s my ten word review of SING SING: “Uplifting A24 Colman Domingo Prison Theatre Troupe Drama Fantastic GO!”
Okay, I can do better than this.
Behind the walls of the infamous Sing Sing Correctional Facility in upstate New York exists a safe space for incarcerated men who are ready for it. That safe space is a theatre space. The Rehabilitation Through The Arts program, known as the RTA program, is a respite from the daily routine, in which men get to be vulnerable in front of other men, often for the first time inside or outside. They play theatre games, choose plays, hold auditions, rehearse and, with the help of outside backstage professionals, perform their acclaimed work in front of an audience of their peers.
Instead of taking a “thank you, we’ll take it from here” approach that is the accepted norm for movies based on true stories, director Greg Kwedar (TRANSPECOS) and his collaborators have crafted an exquisite docudrama (held together with the swelling strings of The National’s Bryce Dessner’s gorgeous score), in which most of the players onscreen are formerly incarcerated members of the prison theatre troupe, playing versions of themselves.
Leading the ensemble is the great Colman Domingo, a magnetic actor who has been on a steady rise with his film career over the last decade in Nate Parker’s THE BIRTH OF A NATION, Barry Jenkins’ IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK, and last year with his first Oscar nomination for George C. Wolfe’s RUSTIN. In SING SING, Domingo plays Divine G, who has made the best of his sentence of 25-to-life. While he works to appeal his case as well as help other inmates with legal matters, he pours himself into his work with the RTA.
For as good as Domingo consistently is, the real find here is newcomer Clarence Maclin, and I pray this isn’t the last time we see him. Maclin plays Divine Eye, and in his portrayal we see a transformation from a hard gangsta to a sensitive man with a real contribution not just to this company of players, but to this company of men, In so doing, Divine Eye's demons are seen, understood, accepted, and patiently exorcised. The seamless blend of professional film actors (including great work from Sean San José as Mike Mike and Paul Raci as Brent Buell, the RTA program’s director) and these real-life men brings an authenticity and rawness that you can’t fake.
SING SING never treats these men as anything less than men: growing, sharing, and getting in touch with their inner life by playing parts. The film illustrates what the arts can provide as therapy, how putting on costumes and embodying a character in a manufactured story can help directly address the pain that led to the decisions one makes to become incarcerated, how people are not their mistakes, and how, for days in a rehearsal hall or a couple hours on stage, these condemned men are free.
As an experience, SING SING feels far from manufactured. It’s a great story, well told, period. There is a lesser version of this movie in which every part is played by a recognizable actor, and they all want an Oscar. There is a version of this movie in which it is another hard-edged portrayal of prison life, with all the usual trimmings. As prison dramas go, there is refreshingly no onscreen violence; beautiful proof that “deep” doesn’t always have to mean “dark.” There is a version of this movie in which the play is the greatest play ever (they choose to perform a nonsensical time-travel comedy, written to incorporate everyone’s incongruous ideas). There is a version of this movie that is clearly agenda-driven about the prison industrial complex or a number of other society-plaguing issues. SING SING may naturally make you think about those things, but its only agenda seems to be to tell a great and entertaining story, and to show the world that programs like this exist, and that they work.
Kudos once again to the cinematic risk-takers at A24 for acquiring and releasing another amazing, eclectic original film. Though we will be talking about SING SING during Oscar season, here’s hoping that their courageous strategy of releasing it in the summertime, like they did with PAST LIVES last year, gives the film a good life and a slow build that similarly pays off.
Honest, authentic, and jubilant, SING SING is one of the best films of the year. It’s one of the best prison movies in years, it’s one of the best movies about masculinity in years, and speaking as a theater kid, it’s one of the best movies about theater ever made, and its power to get at something deeper that you didn’t know you had within you. This movie made me a mess. I was seriously dehydrated when it was over from all the happy tears. It’s a raw and rousing “triumph of the human spirit” movie, a resonant message of joy and hope in a place where it is seldom found, but skillfully told in a refreshingly unadorned style that won’t manipulate you into feeling that way. You just will.
Zach is a proud member of the Minnesota Film Critics Alliance (MNFCA). For more info about Zach, the organization, or to read other great reviews from other great Minnesota-based film critics, click here: https://mnfilmcriticalliance.wordpress.com/