The Corner (DVD)

After spending the best part of 2 months working my way through the masterpiece of television that is ‘The Wire’ I was left with a massive hole in my television viewing schedule. After the intensity and the quality of the story telling I’d recently become accustom to I knew I couldn't follow it up with just any show, it would have to be something clever, something hard hitting, and more importantly something good. With so many recommendations being ...
...repeat on FX when during the adverts a trailer for a soon to debut in the UK show caught my eye. Using the wonders of modern technology I hit the rewind button to view it in full, the show was called ‘The Corner’, was created the same people as ‘The Wire’ and seemed to have some of the same actors. I’d found my new show.

‘The Corner’ is a mini series created by David Simon and David Mills in 2000, based on the true to life book ‘The ... more

After spending the best part of 2 months working my way through the masterpiece of television that is ‘The Wire’ I was left with a massive hole in my television viewing schedule. After the intensity and the quality of the story telling I’d recently become accustom to I knew I couldn't follow it up with just any show, it would have to be something clever, something hard hitting, and more importantly something good. With so many recommendations being given to me from friends and family alike I was struggling to pick something until one night I was sat at home watching a Family Guy repeat on FX when during the adverts a trailer for a soon to debut in the UK show caught my eye. Using the wonders of modern technology I hit the rewind button to view it in full, the show was called ‘The Corner’, was created the same people as ‘The Wire’ and seemed to have some of the same actors. I’d found my new show.

‘The Corner’ is a mini series created by David Simon and David Mills in 2000, based on the true to life book ‘The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighbourhood’ by David Simon and Ed Burns. The show focuses on the broken family of Gary McCullough, Francine ‘Fran’ Boyd, and teenager DeAndre McCullough, while also looking at the life of the drug addicts and drug dealers based around the open air drug market on Fayette & Monroe Streets corner, one of Baltimore, Maryland's poorest neighbourhoods. Creator David Simon spent 3 years observing the real life corner depicted, getting to know the people living in the area, using a video camera to interview many of the people while also getting involved in the local community. It is during this time that Simon met Gary, Fran, and DeAndre and decided to make them the centre of his book and TV show.

The Characters

Gary McCullough, played by the excellent T.K. Carter, is the drug addicted father of DeAndre and former husband of Fran, who spends his days working out how he’s going to find the money to buy his daily fix of heroin, while also always on the look out for a cigarette. Gary is an intelligent man who wasn’t always poor; he was a rich stock market trader in his younger days in which time time he met, married, and had a child with Fran before succumbing to drug addiction and losing everything that was important to him in his life. Whats very plain to see is Gary is a good person with real morals and values but is trapped by his addiction. Many times throughout the mini series we witness his internal struggle between drugs and wanting to be a father to DeAndre to develop a real relationship with him. Add to that a scheming girlfriend, Ronnie, who does more bad than good for Gary and you realise just how trapped in his situation he really is. I thought Carter was stunning in his portrayal of this conflicted man, and his ups and downs left me with a real emotional attachment to the character, which often left me with real feelings of sadness.

Francine ‘Fran’ Boyd, played by Khandi Alexander (who many may know from ‘CSI: Miami’), is the drug addict mother of DeAndre struggling to get through life and look after her son. The two of them live in ‘Dew Drop Inn’ (the groups nickname for the home they use as a drug sanctuary) with her two drug addicted sisters, Bunchie and Sharry, her drug addict brother Stevie and his son. It’s clear Fran wants the very best she can for DeAndre and doesn’t want him to continue drug dealing and eventually end up in jail, but coping as a single mother with a strong minded teenage son is hard enough, throw in drug addiction, the lack of a job and the environment they find themselves in and its clear to all that this is a situation anyone would struggle in. At times Fran comes across as bitter, unfair, and almost devious, often in her exchanges with Gary this comes out the most, but its clear she loves her family and still cares for Gary. I though Alexander excelled in this role of the troubled mother, much like Carters performance she left me with a strong emotional attachment to the person portrayed.

Last but not least in the family is young DeAndre McCullough played by Sean Nelson. DeAndre had been dealing drugs with his friends since he was 13 and shows no signs of really leaving the life, despite efforts to find a job. Having seen what drug addiction has done to his parents and many of the people around him DeAndre knows the perils first hand of what life as a drug addict could do to him and what it’s done to his family, yet he usually still manages to smile. Spending much of his free time with his friends chasing girls or down the local community centre run by respected local Ella Thompson (or Miss Ella as the boys refer to her as) and playing basketball, DeAndre has little to do with his mother and even less to do with his estranged father. You can see he wants to develop these relationships but each time he come close something to do with the life they’re all trapped in prevents this, one particular scene that really stirred my emotions involved Gary and DeAndre starting to bond by (briefly) playing basketball together before it being cut short by Ronnie arriving with some drugs for her and Gary.

For a mini-series ‘The Corner’ has a large amount of character outside of the main family mentioned, although that should be no surprise thinking of the amount of people Simon must have met during the 3 years. From the man all the addicts look up to due to how long he’s survived in the streets Fat Curt (played by Clarke Peters who played Leicester Freeman in ‘The Wire’), George 'Blue' Epps, or the young Tyreeka Freamon, all have their own part to play in the story and all portray the roles they are cast as as close to life as possible. Fan’s of ‘The Wire’ should keep a look out as I spotted at least ten actors or actresses from the show who were also here in ‘The Corner’, some in bit parts, some in larger roles.

The Show and More of What I Thought

The show has gained major acclaim for it’s no hold barred depiction of life on the street and this is all down to Simon's time in Baltimore that I mentioned earlier. The characters and events in this show are not fictional ones based on real life, they are real people using the real names of those involved so as to make the show (and book before hand) as shockingly truthful as possible. Real Baltimore slang is used, while the depictions of what drug addiction does to a person are more shocking in this show than any I’ve ever seen before. One particular part really stood out in my mind, a female drug addict by the name of Rita Hale develops sores all over her body which slowly as the series develops get worse until they are just massive open wounds, all the while putting off going to get treatment because of the fact she knows she wont be able to take drugs while shes in the hospital. It’s depictions like this that make ‘The Corner’ one of the most powerful shows I’ve ever seen, this is not for the weak hearted or anyone who dislikes strong emotional dramas.

The show is produced by Simon and also Robert F. Colesberry, and man Simon credited when making ‘The Wire’ as a the major reason behind being able to transfer the realism to film. It’s clear from watching this series and seeing the similarities between it and ‘The Wire’ that the consistencies between his work show that everything is pretty much as you would find it if you went to one of these neighbour hoods today. This is obviously one of the reasons his shows win so many awards and gain so much praise. Each episode starts as a video camera interview with one of our three main stars and then goes on to follow their life after the interview is usually cut short by the character being annoyed by a question they’ve been asked. Each of our stars having two episodes each based around themselves and their past but all of the family are involved in each others episodes. I think this helps to illustrate the fact the show is based on a true life book, with the start of each episode working like an introduction to each new chapter.

‘The Corner’ doesn’t try to make out every drug addict or dealer as bad people and takes each on their individual merit and situation. The sociological study this programme takes on this sort of life is unprecedented on shows/films I’ve seen myself, which was a major factor in why I loved it. Seeing the way these people struggled everyday to put together money for drugs was a real eye opener in many ways, while also seeing the things they did for accommodation, friendships, food and certain members of the community showed a side of the life rarely shown or documented.

Now a question I’ve been asking myself is do I have any complaints about the show? After much deliberation the answer is a resounding no. The characterisation and the story telling is gritty and superb throughout, and the final interview with the real Fran and DeAndre really kicking in the realism of what you've just seen. I realise this show will be too heavy for some people, which is fair enough, digging deep into the emotional life of a drug addicted neighbourhood isn’t every ones cup of tea, but for those who enjoy these types of dramas I couldn’t recommend it any higher, and if you’re a fan of ‘The Wire’ this show is a perfect accompaniment to the Baltimore's other gritty drama.  

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