A bitter dispute over federally mandated public housing divides Yonkers, N.Y., in the late 1980s in this six-part miniseries based on former New York Times reporter Lisa Belkin';;s nonfiction book. Mayor Nick Wasicsko took office in 1987 during Yonkers';; worst crisis. When federal courts ordered public housing be built in the white, middle class side of town, it divided the city in a bitter battle fueled by fear, racism, murder and politics.
Taking wonky, dry, slow, intractable, expansive, and important social issues-in other words, subjects that seem innately anathema to television-and making them sexy, or at least dramatic, is David Simon's preferred mode.
Show Me A Hero is an outstanding and deeply soulful miniseries drama delivered at the kind of top-tier level that only comes along every few years or so.
Bernthal, who has spent much of his recent career playing men of action, has the best role of his career, and he shines as cocky but dedicated NAACP lawyer Michael Sussman, determined to make Yonkers integrate.
The artfulness and empathy of Show Me a Hero would be tremendously moving in any year. But it feels particularly relevant in 2015, when the Black Lives Matter movement and the violent incidents that inspired it are dominating the headlines.
Even when the narrative wanders, the terrific performances, Bruce Springsteen songs on the soundtrack, and its refusal to provide easy answers make Show Me a Hero thought-provoking and moving.
This is less a series of heart-tugging vignettes than a state-of-the-nation warning about the disintegration of America's political system. Its basic elements are fear and money.
