Saturday, January 12, 2008

The Wire


Quote of the day:
"If I have a good trait, it's probably relentlessness, I'm a hound dog on the prowl. I can't be shook!"
--Bruce Springsteen

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems we really have some excellent, adult movies and TV series going on. Perhaps the most adult and sophisticated of all is “The Wire” on HBO. It just began its fifth and final season.

“The Wire” debuted in the shadow of “The Sopranos” and “Six Feet Under,” and so never received quite the attention those two series did. Also, it can be a difficult show to watch because of its myriad of characters, plot lines and thick, authentic dialect. It takes a bit of effort.

With the dialect issue, DVDs are very helpful. Just turn on the subtitles.

This series has received a lot of attention recently because of consistent critical lauds and because it’s getting set to end.

The name of the show comes from the wiretaps the cops use to track movements of people they are investigating. This is just a piece of what goes on.

“The Wire” is an unusual venture for TV in a couple respects. First, it is created and produced by former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon, who is intimately familiar with the workings, politics and language of the city and the streets.

Second, each season has taken on a different city institution. The constant over the seasons has been the story of the police and the drug trade. This was the focus of the first season. Subsequent years have examined organized crime at the port, city government, schools and now, the newspaper.

The writing and the acting may be the best ever shown on television. Considering the complexity of the story lines and the plethora of characters, this is an extraordinary achievement.

When I talked about “The Sopranos” I mentioned a possible comparison with Shakespearean drama. “The Wire” is a much more apt candidate for that comparison.

We see the personal and institutional stories of crime in downtown Baltimore’s run-down streets, city government, the police, reporters and editors, and schools, interwoven into a strongly compelling tapestry of pain, healing, joy, failure, achievement, corruption, friendship, betrayal, shocking tragedy and humor.

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