jandobrodumow

Another overrated crime story with gushing reviews plastered all over imdb. I don't know if it's that modern audiences have grown up on lesser quality, or their standards are lower, or they are blinded by flash production values and good looking actors. It's not that this show is necessarily bad, it just isn't very good, it's a mish mash of everything you already saw, with a script full of hammy cliched dialogue and on the nose acting. The lead character has no redeeming qualities, hell if he were at least well drawn and complex we might be able to give him a pass, but there's nothing there to work with, just a wooden attitude with poorly written dialogue. Quite honestly I am going to resign my subscriptions from streaming services. Is this the best we can expect? Hyped up, all style and no substance, weakly developed nonsense with unconvincing main characters. Thanks but no thanks.

I watched this with someone who really liked it and he was surprised I was checking the time, but if I hadn't been with him, I would have left the cinema a long time before. The film is so painfully slow and devoid of incident for going on an hour. It is literally like watching paint dry, ok we know she lost her husband and had to get away from it all, etc etc, but the premise was not exactly breaking new ground in originality, and the cast of oddballs, reminiscent of the league of gentlemen, did nothing to ramp up a horror type vibe, so we ended up stuck somewhere between Royston Vasey and Hammer house of horror. But it looks good, has a decent score, decent acting from the lead, interesting special effects, it just unfortunately has a screenplay that comes across as very confused and underdeveloped, the story is half-baked and devoid of strong creative twists and surprises. Basically it is just pretty boring.

I watched it for the first time in 2013 and happily binge watched every season. I can appreciate that as a weekly show, episode by episode it could be too slow burning for the average viewer. But The Wire has nothing average in it (other than some of the acting in season 2). It's a work of art. Its canvas is the city of Baltimore and every season has a new subject, a new angle. The introduction of new perspectives and sides of the city (which felt odd at the start of season 2), makes perfect sense by the climaxes of seasons 3 and 4, when you realise it's a broad portrait, a social commentary, Dickensian, Shakespearean at times. If you stick it out patiently to that point you are rewarded with quite frankly the most epicly deep and detailed and dramatic television show ever made. It just takes a little conentration and persistence, like some painful long haul flight to some amazing far flung location, once you arrive there, you know the journey was worth it and you know what all the fuss is about. Intelligent, incisive, uncompromising, gritty, heartbreaking, depressing, epic. And for all those who decry the lack of pure entertainment, which this show generally shuns, it has to be pointed out that there are a few episodes towards the end of seasons 3-4 that fuse the gritty drama with entertainment values better than any other show has ever done. I tried to watch the Sopranos for the first time recently and after 10 episodes I was left disillusioned and generally unimpressed, other than the main character's turn, which wasn't enough to hold my attention over the long haul. Also after doing the wire, it's difficult to believe you can find anything which will grab you in the same way. In that sense the wire is like a measuring stick for quality. Nothing else seems to come close. I love Breaking bad too, but when rewatching it, I find myself skipping past the boring domestic scenes. The wire has no similar problems. You can revisit it and happily watch every episode from start to finish. Bottom line, the Wire's greatness lies in appreciating how it unfolds and the payoffs it delivers in those genius seasons 3 and 4. I haven't watched anything as good before or since.