It would be so easy for Show Me a Hero to be cynical. This is a show that features people actively resisting change, whether by loudly protesting the addition of low-income housing buildings to their neighborhood, or the much smaller act of refusing to take a pamphlet from a man who wants to become the new mayor and change the way things are run. Even an NAACP director proclaims himself too tired to fight anymore. Hell, the show even takes its title from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous quote, “Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy.” What’s so incredible about Show Me a Hero, HBO’s brilliant new miniseries, is the optimism that runs in its veins. This duality in storytelling is of a piece with The Wire, the last show from Hero creator David Simon. Simon is nothing if not sympathetic to his characters, and Hero has enough in common with The Wire, but enough of its own identity, that it almost feels like a companion piece, this one about Yonkers, NY. (It is as this point that I will promise to do my best to keep Wire references and comparisons to a minimum.)
And don’t let the sprawling ensemble fool you: this is a show about a city (indeed, the first spoken word of “Part One” is “Yonkers”). There’s a nice framing device, of two men taking aerial photographs, that does a nice job of showing the economic disparity in the city: there are palatial mansions, and only miles away (minutes in a helicopter), high-rise project buildings that, yes, resemble the towers from The Wire, and goddamnit I did it again. The photographers, whose role in Hero, if they have one, has yet to be revealed, are an elegant way to show just how divided the city is.
A lot of that, Simon seems to argue, is due to plain old inertia. There’s a racial element at play too, of course, and that makes Hero seem incredibly timely, its 1987 setting notwithstanding. Twenty-eight years later and we still haven’t figured out how to live with one another. “We’re not prejudiced!” one man screams into a mic at a town hall meeting. Sure, buddy.
“Part One” sees Nick Wasicsko (an excellent Oscar Isaac) running for mayor against the six-term incumbent Angelo Martinelli (a surprisingly great Jim Belushi). The surprising – and refreshing – thing about Show Me a Hero is that its not about a mayoral campaign. Don’t get me wrong, I’d watch the hell out of that, especially with Oscar Isaac as the lead, but, again, the show is about Yonkers, and not only is Nick elected mayor before episode’s end (“I’m the fuckin’ Mayor!” he crows to a bar), but he’s already faced with problems, problems he has to deal with while sitting in an office with Martinelli’s name on the door and while having to introduce himself as “mayor elect.”
The cast, obviously, is top-notch. An hour into the show and Isaac is already showing exactly why he should be a huge movie star. He’s gone from being the only good part about Sucker Punch, to delivering award-worthy performances in projects like this and the woefully underseen Inside Llewyn Davis. Simon fills his cast with names big (Winona Ryder and Alfred Molina as fellow council members), medium-sized (The Walking Dead‘s Jon Bernthal, as an idealistic but exasperated civil rights crusader) and small (a bunch of new faces who you wouldn’t know!). Paul Haggis (Crash), who also produces the show, directs “Part One” with tasteful remove; his slow pans and off-center framing recall some of the best, most politically-minded filmmakers of the ’70s, like Sydney Lumet and Alan J. Pakula.
That’s not to say that “Part One” is perfect (although it’s really, really close). A lot of the dialogue is pure exposition, and as great as Isaac is, I don’t buy him as a 27-year-old (I know this is based on a true story, but I feel like Hero could have taken some artistic license with Nick’s age).
But those are literally my only complaints about “Part One.” Look, this is a David Simon show. It’s on HBO. It stars one of the most talented young actors working today. There was a 0% chance that me and the rest of the critical community weren’t going to lose our collective shit over Show Me a Hero. Maybe it’s just residual goodwill from The Wire, or maybe – and bear with me here – David Simon is just really fucking good at making TV.
A Few Thoughts
-
“We all got problems. Except you” – Nick, to his father’s grave
-
The world-building is already very successful. I feel like these characters have lives outside of the scenes that they’re in. At certain points I’d be wondering what Nick or Angelo or anyone else was doing at that moment
-
“To be poor in DR was no crime, pero aqui…“
-
“It’s always better to lose big than to lose small”
-
“It’s the American way, right?”
-
“The other kids used to call me ‘the mayor.’ It wasn’t a compliment.” I feel like this line in particular really hammers home David Simon’s beef with inept civil servants
About Author
