Author: Bryan Loomis
This is a story that deserves to be told with restraint and care, and Sing Sing delivers in that regard. The choice to cast so many actors as themselves is effective, it lets them bring some real authenticity and genuine humanity to the film. We’re seeing men who are trapped, who have an outlet that's bringing them some sense of joy and purpose but could also just be seen as a distraction from their awful realities. That reality is shown directly at times like Divine G’s parole hearing but mostly just stays at the periphery, the men don't talk about it unless they have to. A key scene that extends the depth and complexity here is a visit from Charlie, a former member of the acting group who has been released from prison. He tells them the joys of freedom but quickly turns to sharing about putting his dog down - life on the outside is free but that doesn't make it easy.
A strength of the film is light subversion of expectation. Nothing is completely out of nowhere, and the progression of the struggling production that comes together in the end is simple enough, but the character interactions and dramas didn't proceed the way I expected them to. Clarence Macklin’s character, in particular, is well written and even better performed. The first few scenes set him up where things seem headed for a dramatic confrontation, and we almost get one but it's interrupted by Dino with a great monologue that really turns things around. This is a movie with a lot of monologues, both in the movie proper and in the play they are staging. Though I don't usually love capital A Acting with lots of monologues, it suits the form of the movie and what it's trying to do. It helps that the monologues never really try to sum up the whole movie in a single message, they are there as support pillars for the film’s purpose.
It's all good and thoughtful, and supporting an important message. I also like the pure silliness of the main play we see being performed through most of the movie - it adds a fun playfulness and levity, but not one that's at odds with the core seriousness of the subject matter and message. It's not doing anything you'd call groundbreaking, but applying tried and true technique and narrative forms to under-represented storylines like this is also important and good.
コメント