"We sitting here day after day making ourself a little bit less human."
Before David Simon brought us the HBO masterpiece The Wire, he took us to The Corner, a mini-series based upon his non-fiction book of the same name, co-written by Wire writer Ed Burns.
Following the lives of a poverty-stricken family living in the drug slums of West Baltimore, The Corner is raw, gritty, haunting and void of any sense of hope. Actor/director Charles S. Dutton introduces each episode by interviewing one of the characters in the series as if they were in a documentary. It's a bizarre step to take but works really well as it gives the viewer a stronger sense of realism and existence into this "foreign" world.
Broken up into 6 parts, each member of the family is given two centric episodes apiece. T.K. Carter portrays the loser of a father with such heartbreaking presence, you just want to reach into the screen and smack some sense into him. Khandi Alexander blew my mind with her disturbing performance as the drug-addicted mother who seems to suffer from a Jekyll and Hyde persona. Finally the son, played by relatively unknown actor Sean Nelson, is an anger-fueled drug-peddler with no qualms being nothing more than a dealer to his troubled parents. The cast of supporting characters are just as good as they pop in and out of the family's lives. Wire fans will be surprised to see so many actors portraying roles the complete opposite from what they would go on to play.
Another pleasant surprise is the neighborhood that plays an equally powerful role in both shows with a stunning presence. Doorsteps, street lamps and obviously corners are so recognizable, you'll half-expect Omar Little to come strutting around the next turn with a shotgun in hand.
While The Wire portrayed the violent criminal organization aspects of drug dealing, The Corner explores the lives of the addicts and the terrible lives they struggle to get a grasp on. It's very unsettling to watch and difficult to ever really warm up to, which is a good thing. It means the writers did their jobs right, unlike most American drug-addict films. It's the world most folks shamefully tend to ignore and turn away from.
These aren't bad people...they just aren't very good either.
They're human.
MUST SEE EPISODES:
EPISODES TO AVOID:
Simply not happening. It's too short and neatly packaged to miss a single episode.
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