So many films have been meta toward Hollywood. Either they've been about filmmaking or they've been about entertainers, either actors, musicians or etc. If you pay attention to the Academy Awards, so many films that get nominated meet that description. It's gotten to be so much that another meta-Hollywood story can be frustrating or numbing. Yet, every now and then, a meta-Hollywood narrative comes along that isn't pretentious or naval gazing. Every now and then, one comes along that isn't thematically repetitive or instead has a refreshing and unique take.
The title here is actually the name of a maximum security prison in New York. The inmates are ones whom you wouldn't expect to be up on the big screen in anything other than a documentary about their crimes or what got them put behind bars. However, filmmaker Greg Kwedar (Jockey and Transpecos) adapts the true story of how a select group of inmates were part of a rehabilitative program or a restorative one that helped them to do something productive or constructive while in the slammer.
Colman Domingo (The Color Purple and Rustin) stars as John Whitfield aka "Divine G," a man who was convicted of murder and sentenced to a 20-to-life prison stay. He believes he was falsely convicted. He has a parole hearing coming up after being an inmate for over a decade. He has also become a part of the steering committee for the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, aka the RTA, which gets inmates to engage in various creative endeavors, including theater workshops.
Before his incarceration, Divine G had an interest in theater and performing. He studied ballet in fact. He's later described as a man with no labels or who can't be put into a box. He's also a playwright. He has talent on and off the stage. He auditions for roles in the RTA program, but he also helps the prison director with coaching the other inmates, helping them to give better performances and work as a good troupe.
Clarence Maclin, in his feature debut, co-stars as a version of himself, nicknamed "Divine Eye," an inmate who is new to the RTA program. He doesn't get the benefits of the program and he resists letting himself be totally open or vulnerable. He doesn't really trust the program. He's only doing it because of a random encounter he had with Shakespeare and realized he had an affinity for it. He's obviously the most jaded and cynical. He's likely the most hardened of all the inmates in the RTA.
The structure of this film has us watching the process that any acting troupe would undergo when putting on a stage play. The unique take is that every member is a prison inmate. Yet, the film isn't about adjudicating their criminal cases or dwelling too much in their past, as a way of explaining or even excusing what brought them here. It's not even about exonerating the inmates from any standpoint. This film isn't about criminal justice. It's about restorative justice and it's about Divine G and Divine Eye mostly finding ways to cope and manage, as well as find constructive ways to move forward while maintaining optimism, even in a dehumanizing or depressing place like a maximum security prison.
The film is also about their unlikely friendship. Divine G and Divine Eye are two men that might not have associated with each other in any other context outside of this prison. The two even start out a bit at odds. Literally, when the RTA members meet to discuss what play to do next, Divine G wants to do a drama and Divine Eye wants to do a comedy. Given his posture or attitude at first, it could be assumed that Divine Eye might not even have the talent or dedication that Divine G does. They're opposites in temperament and possibly work ethic. Seeing these two co-exist is what's most engaging.
There's also an examination of how acting as a craft isn't just an occupation for people pursuing a career on the stage or on the screen. Acting can also be a tool to help people in other ways. The thesis here is that acting can be a tool for good, not only to help people cope but also escape a not-so-good circumstance where they might be literally or figuratively trapped. Yet, there's also a question of whether it could be a tool for bad or a tool for manipulation in order to get something from someone disingenuously or not.
Domingo is an Oscar-nominee and has proven time and again why he is a supremely talented screen presence. The true surprise here in a sea full of surprises is Maclin. He goes toe-to-toe with Domingo and not only holds his own but also at times towers over him. Maclin is magnetic and he's completely dynamic. Here's hoping he continues to be a presence on the big screen in the future.
Rated R for language throughout.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 47 mins.
In theaters.