Sing Sing

The Plot: Divine G (Coleman Domingo) has had a troubled past and finds himself in Sing Sing maximum security prison in upstate New York. He’s got all the time he needs to think about why he’s there and what he’s going to do about it. He’s involved with an amateur theatrical group composed of fellow prisoners, discussing the choice of plays and giving advice to his fellow castmates. These are the toughest hombres around, including Divine Eye (Clarence Maclin) who has a lot of bottled anger just waiting for a creative outlet. As the group settle on their own version of an anthology play, they find themselves forever changed…

The Verdict: ‘All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances and one man in his time plays many parts’ wrote William Shakespeare. One has to wonder what the great Bard might think of Sing Sing, a film that pays tribute to the man himself but in the most unlikely of settings. If he was around today, he would most likely be a screenwriter and could therefore appreciate the sentiment that lies at the heart of Greg Kwedar’s moving prison-set drama about the restorative power of art. It’s a noble effort from the ground up, with recent Oscar nominee and downright fine actor Colman Domingo front and centre but surrounded by mostly formerly imprisoned members of a theatrical troupe. This is where the real-life Rehabilitation Through The Arts programme comes in, allowing these characters to convert their anger into talent. Everyone involved received the same pay rate too, so they collectively own the movie.

Sing Sing is a gift of a movie then, as much for an audience as it is for the real-life former prisoners essentially playing themselves. This is particularly true of Clarence Maclin, a diamond in the rough whose sharp edges are polished and refined as each scene allows him to grow further into the role of Hamlet and find his true calling, much to the surprise of Divine G who had his eye on the role. The progressive friendship between these two very different men is at the heart of the literate screenplay by John H. Richardson, Brent Bruell and Clint Bentley. Domingo and Maclin bounce and play off each other’s strengths in both the theatrical scenes and the more heart-to-heart scenes, without forgetting that there’s a reason these characters are in prison in the first place. The screenplay is sophisticated enough not to place them on a lofty theatrical altar, but instead portray them as everyday troubled men doing time and realising what they’re missing in the process. The process is then to find a way back to life through theatre.

Kwedar’s consistently engaging film plays into certain aspects of The Shawshank Redemption and A Star Is Born (in its various iterations), charting the acting troupe’s progress as they prepare for the big night. It’s a prison film for sure in its crowd-pleasing moments involving the energetic rogues gallery of a supporting cast and the welcome presence of Paul Raci (Sound Of Metal), who once again brings a calm centre of control in a role that might otherwise be one-note. It gradually wins one over to its way of thinking and feeling about the need for rehabilitation for those prisoners who are open to it (see also the fine, recent Netflix documentary Daughters). The film does come across as its own thing though, not being preachy but being realistic with a nicely-played theatrical touch.

In only his second feature, Kwedar proves himself an adept director of both actors and non-actors. While Domingo is the obvious professional actor in the group, his performance is closely attuned to the non-actors around him. There’s a pleasant acting symmetry at work then, with Kwedar rounding out the other performances (which are notable in themselves). Sing Sing is a film that reaches for the high notes and more often than not hits them, combining a genuinely affecting human drama about drama with a powerful message about resilience.

Rating: 4 / 5

Review by Gareth O’Connor