'Sing Sing' Can Make A Sap Out Of All Of Us
#308: "Sing Sing," "La Dolca Villa," "Crash," "A Different Man"
Edition 308:
Hey movie lovers!
This week: Finally finally finally I got around to watching Sing Sing, one of the best 2024 movies I never got around to. The streamers were there to provide something far less…substantive this week, we take a spin through Oscars history and I appreciate a great acting performance. In this week’s “Trailer Watch,” we’ll find out whether Ben Affleck is still a real movie star.
Sing Sing
Let me tell you why the business side of the movies, especially on the independent side, really matters. A24 released Sing Sing on July 12, the same week as Longlegs (and Fly Me To The Moon, for what little that’s worth). The next week came Twisters, and the week after Deadpool & Wolverine, which swallowed up pretty much every available theater.
Before you knew it, Sing Sing just disappeared. You couldn’t see it, you couldn’t stream it. All year, as its awards buzz built, fizzled and then rallied to score three nominations, you still couldn’t see it, still couldn’t stream it.
I have no idea why, and can’t even manage a theory. The movie quietly came to video on-demand on January 31, and I finally caught it this week. While for most people the moment has come and passed, let me tell you what you’re missing, which is something pretty special.
Colman Domingo stars as an inmate at the real life Sing Sing Correctional Facility in upstate New York, who leads a theater program that has become a therapeutic community for the incarcerated. Those who know Domingo’s work for any number of heartfelt indies he’s fronted over the past several years knows that he commands an incredibly deep well of empathy and emotion and pours it generously into every scene.
Surrounding him, nearly every other character is played by a real life alumni of the Sing Sing program. That makes the movie a kind of mixed reality experiment, with blurred lines of true storytelling with a fictional plotline of Domingo’s Divine G character befriending a drug-dealing inmate named Divine Eye, and as the names would suggest, they begin to follow inverse and interlocking paths.
It’s the kind of earnest, emotional heartstring-puller seen every year in the awards race, but with the verisimilitude serving as a kind of force multiplier that I’d challenge any viewer not to succumb to. The production is simple and the story unflashy, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more lovable movie released last year.
The criticism could be lobbed in by some black-hearted viewer that the movie fawns too much over its subject. There’s absolutely no mystery whose side the movie is on, having filmed in the actual prison with former prisoners and treating them with nothing but uncomplicated respect and admiration. And the stakes here are about as low as any one movie could get.
But what can I say, sometimes a movie can bring out the sap in me. Yes, the story may be hopeful, but it’s not a joy machine. The characters struggle and cry and yell at each other and only choose hope out of a last resort and camaraderie with each other. I found that very moving!
Please, don’t let this movie fall in the forrest without making a sound.
Something New
La Dolce Villa (Netflix): To be honest, I didn’t look any further than “man travels to Tuscany to convince his daughter not to buy a 1 euro home but falls in love.” Sold! Everything else is just as you expect — cheesy storylines, bad acting and an extra helping of sentimentality. A class Hallmark-style Netflix rom-com.
Though I will say there was one hilarious moment that’s stuck with me. Our protagonist, your classic workaholic straight man, tells his daughter it’s essential to have a detailed schedule to keep renovations on schedule. His daughter goes, “Ah the classic Eric Field schedule.” Pan out to a giant calendar behind him, on which the only thing he’s written under each day is “Day 1,” “Day 2,” “Day 3” and so on. The only thing! I burst out laughing.
Something Old
Crash (2004, $VOD): Ok, so I remain convinced The Brutalist is going to win Best Picture. But it’s been 20 years since a movie, like Anora this year, won the top prize at the directors, producers and writers guild awards and didn’t bring it home at the Oscars. That movie was Crash, which upset Brokeback Mountain and carries the dubious reputation as one of the worst Best Picture winners ever. But hey, just like this year, that was a rough year for awards movies — the other nominees were Capote, Good Night and Good Luck and Munich.
As for the movie, is it really that bad? The general premise is laughable, that people in Los Angeles are so lonely they crash their cars into each other for connection. And I’ve never been a big fan of a kaleidoscope movie. But I’ll be honest, outside of its context I thought the movie was fine! Above average, even. And the star power alone makes it compelling to watch: Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard and on and on. Weirdly this feels like a movie Oscars fans have to watch just from a historical perspective. Who knows, you may even enjoy it (or join the rest of the world in mocking it).
Something To Stream
A Different Man (Max): Sebastian Stan stars as man whose life is defined by his horribly disfigured face, until he discovers a miracle treatment that suddenly turns him into a handsome guy (that is to say, someone who looks like Sebastian Stan). He thinks that will help him woo the one woman who was nice to him, only to see her fall for a different man who has the same condition Stan’s character once had, albeit with much more confidence than he ever had in either version.
If you can’t tell, this movie is a deeply melancholic examination of identity and self-worth, where no one comes out unscathed. The movie is powerful, and I know Stan’s performance is compelling, because it’s painful to experience this alongside him. Renate Reinsve (who I’ve only ever seen in The Worst Person In The World) provides an excellent counterpoint as a beautifully shallow love interest. I recommend taking the plunge. And it’s pretty clear Stan should’ve been nominated for this movie rather than The Apprentice (which is saying something!).
Trailer Watch: The Accountant 2
I don’t want to be overly dramatic about this, but this is a huge test for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity “studio,” which to this point has been producing and selling all its projects to streaming services, where they don’t need to worry about the movie’s actual performance. Now they’re taking their act to the big time, the box office, for a sequel to Affleck’s surprise 2016 hit. Is he still an A-list star? We’re going to get receipts, so it’s put up or shut up time.