‘Sing Sing’ offers a poignant look at the Rehabilitation Through the Arts Program, with Colman Domingo leading a talented cast of non-professional actors.
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
Sing Sing, the name of the federal prison on the Hudson River in Ossining, N.Y., is from an expression meaning “stone on stone” in a local indigenous language. But Sing Sing takes on a new show-biz-y spin in the hybrid drama also named “Sing Sing.” Directed by Greg Kwedar of the great 2021 sports film “Jockey” (made with creative partner Clint Bentley, who directed) and co-written by Kwedar and several formerly incarcerated men, “Sing Sing” is based on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts Program at the maximum security facility. Both Kwedar and Bentley are veterans of educational/creative programs at correctional facilities (proudly, so am I).
Academy Award-nominee Colman Domingo (“Rustin”) leads a cast of mostly non-professional inmate actors as a convicted murderer nicknamed Divine G with a clemency hearing coming up and new evidence that might lead to his freedom. We first see this man standing in costume on a stage, lustily reciting a speech by Lysander from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Forget about an after-party. Prison security rounds up the cast and crew and returns them to their cells. Domingo’s Divine G shares his cramped space with Miguel, a seemingly kind and gentle spirit whose nickname is Miguelito and who may be, for all we know, a serial killer.
G has pictures and typed pages taped to the wall in front of his electric typewriter, books, and canned goods. He is usually busy at work on some project or another, including his own case. G is serving two concurrent sentences: 25 years to life and 5 years to 15. Over the years he has already served, he has learned about the law and legal proceedings of the prison and its parole board.
The film is an odd throwback to the old “Let’s-Put-on-a-Show” movies with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney and pits Domingo’s G at odds against a hot-headed newcomer in the group, whom we first see threatening the well-being of a frightened younger man. The prison name of this gangster is Divine Eye (a charismatic Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin), and he wants the group to tackle, of all things, “King Lear” (Although, what is “King Lear,” if not the tale of a gangster trying to divide up his empire?). After being reunited with their director Brent (Academy Award nominee Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”), who is not an incarcerated person, the group mounts a suspiciously Marvel-esque time-travel comedy with a motley crew of characters, including Shakespeare’s Hamlet, instead.
But first, Brent must write it. As it turns out, one of the characters in Brent’s musical play is an Egyptian Prince in search of his “mummy.” Yes, much of the humor is lame. The group meets in a vaulted, church-like space to rehearse. Sometimes, the troubled Divine Eye is a no-show. He has issues that he does like to talk about. But we eventually learn that he has children, including a son, who is also in prison. During a fierce argument between Divine G and Divine Eye, the latter uses the N-word, and G reminds him that they don’t “use that word in here.” Instead, they say, “beloved.”
The program undoubtedly gives some prisoners an escape from the soul-deadening drudgery of incarceration. But they cannot escape brutal, invasive cell searches or the sudden deaths of fellow inmates. One prisoner recalls how an incarcerated man sitting in front of him had his throat sliced “from ear to ear,” his blood spurting everywhere. This is only one of the reasons why Divine Eye does not like anyone coming up unexpectedly behind him. In prison, survival is all.
Over the course of work on the show, G and Divine Eye reach a rapprochement. G even files a release request for his fellow actor, telling him that if the reply envelope is “light,” he’s free; if it’s “heavy,” he’s not going anywhere. In a way, the cunning and beautiful costumes worn by the cast for their new show are symbols of the way inmates see themselves. The stage bestows dignity on those chosen to stand upon it. And, yes, “stone walls do not a prison make,” not even in Sing Sing.
‘Sing Sing’
Rating: R for language throughout
Cast: Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Paul Raci
Director: Greg Kwedar
Writer: John H. Richardson, Brent Buell, Clint Bentley
Running time: 105 minutes
Where to Watch: Coolidge Corner Movie Theater, AMC Boston Common
Grade: B+
Boston Movie News 