Set in Sing Sing Prison and based on a true story, with an ensemble cast of actors, most of whom have been formerly incarcerated, director Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing is definitely a film that pulls at your heartstrings. The film features an excellent performance by Colman Domingo (the recent Gotham Award winner will be honored with the Montecito Award by Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 14), a longtime actor who also gave a standout performance in last year’s film Rustin. His character in Sing Sing is Divine G, a brilliant man who has been wrongly imprisoned, who throws his energies into founding and acting in a theater group with other incarcerated men.
Based on the real life Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program, the film focuses on what happens when a somewhat reluctant outsider (who’s seemingly more gangster than actor) joins the group, and the men decide to stage an original comedy production combining inspiration from Shakespeare, pirates, and just about every other genre you can imagine.
Making his feature film debut, Clarence Maclin plays the new guy with such believable intensity that it feels like you’re a fly on the wall in prison at times. In real life Maclin, a k a “Divine Eye,” really did serve time at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and in his sixth year of incarceration was asked to participate in the RTA program. The program obviously served him well, as his role in the film is definitely a star-making turn. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the future.