In this episode of The Hollywood Beat, Tandy and Reba look at two low-budget, indy films – one set entirely in a prison, the other briefly in New York, but chiefly in Poland.
A Real Pain stars Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg, who also wrote and directed the film. The plot centers on two American cousins who reunite to embark on a tour of Poland. Their intent is to honor their grandmother who survived a Polish concentration camp and afterward emigrated to the United States. Her grandsons’ travels take them to the death camp where she was interned. For his performance, Culkin was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Sing Sing was shot in a former correctional institution filling in for the titular prison, The story follows a group of prisoners participating in a program called Rehabilitation Through the Arts. A real program, RTA uses theater and acting to modify their behavior. Some of the inmates were convicted for murder. Colman Domingo stars as a man who is serving time for a crime he did not commit.
A Real Pain and Sing Sing were not nominated for Best Picture, though there is an argument to be made that either should have been.