Best Adapted Screenplay Nominee: Sing Sing

I was overjoyed to see Sing Sing get some Oscar love in the form of a couple nominations. I doubt it will win anything, but the fact that it was nominated is a win in and of itself. I am especially happy that one of those nominations was for Best Adapted Screenplay. Sing Sing is an incredibly moving film thick with emotion and running the full gamut between hope and despair.

Based on the book, The Sing Sing Follies by Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, Sing Sing follows a theater group run by a group of inmates in Sing Sing Prison in New York State. The group’s leader is John “Divine G” Witfield (Coleman Domingo), a wrongly accused inmate who is trying to simultaneously prove his innocence, convince parole boards he’s reformed, and provide a creative outlet for men you wouldn’t normally associate with the theater. The Rehabilitation Through Arts Program (RTA) helps these men find a sense of purpose, an the creative outlet broadens their worlds in ways that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.

The film was in theaters over the summer, and I wrote a more comprehensive review here. Even though this post focuses mainly on the script, make no mistake about it, this film is outstanding in all facets, especially the acting and directing. I mentioned in my previous blog about Sing Sing, that the screenplay is largely character-driven, and it doesn’t follow a traditional 3-Act structure, but it does have a subtle Hero’s Journey. Sing Sing’s screenplay is the exception that proves the rule. In taking a closer look at it, I do see more of a 3-Act structure than I did on the first viewing, but it is as subtle as the Hero’s Journey is in it. While the story is important in this screenplay, it’s more about the characters, their circumstances, and their growth.

Act 1

Divine G’s Ordinary World is him living as an inmate in Sing Sing Correctional Facility for a crime he didn’t commit as the leader of the RTA. He works closely with Brent Buell (Paul Raci), a social worker from outside the prison who is the program’s director and serves as Divine G’s Meeting of the Mentor. Upon completion of the latest production, Divine G presents a Call to Adventure to Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin to join the next show. Divine Eye is more belligerent and confrontational and sees little value in joining a theater group, which acts as the Refusal to the Call. Divine Eye Crosses the First Threshold when he decides to join the RTA.

Act 2

The Tests, Allies, and Enemies portion of the Hero’s Journey follows as Divine Eye wants the next show to be a comedy, but Divine G wants to do a drama to show off his acting skills. Their conflict deepens when Divine Eye convinces the rest of the inmates to go with the comedy and then Divine Eye auditions for and receives the one dramatic role in the show over Divine G. The Approach shows Divine Eye opening up to Devine G and the group trying to get permission to put on the show. The Supreme Ordeal shows Divine Eye and Divine G going to their parole hearings. Divine G’s is especially painful and awkward when he talks about acting in the shows and one of the committee members asks him if he’s acting now. His parole is denied, but Divine Eye’s is approved. Divine G’s friend Mike Mike dies, sending Divine G into a personal spiral in which he loses all hope and takes all his anger out on his fellow RTA members and leaving the production. The Reward shows Divine G withdrawing from everything, despair having completely taken over.

Act III

The Resurrection shows Divine G. using the time to himself to figure out what really upset him and how the group is really the best thing, really the only good thing in his life. Divine Eye reconnects with him and invites him back to the production. Divine G. apologizes and is welcomed back with open arms. After the performance, we get the Return with the Elixir. Divine G is paroled a year later and leaves the prison a free man. Divine Eye picks him up and takes him to a new life as a free man.

So clearly, there is a dramatic 3-act structure and a Hero’s Journey. This isn’t a complex story. There aren’t a lot of subplots or layers to the storyline that keep the audience guessing like some of the other nominees this year. What this screenplay does, perhaps better than any of the other nominees, is it develops characters and relationships that are the backbone of the movie. The story is secondary in Sing Sing. This is a movie about people, the circumstances they live in, and the way they survive circumstances that would kill most people.

Divine G. is the protagonist, and we see the story unfold through his eyes. We watch him go from hope to despair and back again. We watch Divine Eye go from a closed-off tough guy to a sensitive man who understands that might doesn’t necessarily mean right, as he was taught his whole life leading up to now. This screenplay gives us archetypes like the Hero, the Trickster, the Shapeshifter, the Shadow, and the Mentor in ways that feel natural and organic. We’re less concerned about what happens with the story and more concerned about how the story changes the characters and spurs their growth.

If you are an aspiring screenwriter looking for ways to build characters with depth, pathos and believable personalities, Sing Sing is a script you should know.

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