Series creator David Simon was a veteran crime reporter for The Baltimore Sun, who co-wrote the book that inspired the acclaimed NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street, and co-writer Ed Burns was a Baltimore cop, lending impeccable street cred to the 13 first-season episodes of HBO's underrated series The Wire. An inner-city Baltimore saga (and companion piece to the earlier HBO series The Corner) that Simon aptly describes as "a visual novel" and "a treatise on institutions and individuals" as opposed to a conventional good-vs.-evil police procedural, The Wire opens as maverick Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West, in a star-making role) taps into a vast and deadly drug network in Baltimore's deteriorating housing projects. With a mandate to get quick results, a haphazard team is assembled to join McNulty's increasingly complex investigation, built upon countless hours of electronic surveillance (hence the title). This is realistic R-rated-level material, but the series' greatest strength is its refusal to comfort viewers with platitudes or deliver easy answers, serving up instead a complex universe full of moral gray zones. Presented in a handsome--if extra-less--five-disc boxed set, this is highly recommended. (J. Shannon)
The Wire: The Complete First Season
HBO, 5 discs, 775 min., not rated, DVD: $99.98 Volume 19, Issue 6
The Wire: The Complete First Season
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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