Gary, Fran and their teenage son DeAndre live in the slums of West Baltimore. They used to have a normal suburban family life, until Gary and Fran started taking drugs. Now Gary and Fran are estranged and their existence is day-to-day, hand-to-mouth, doing anything to satisfy their addiction. DeAndre has a chance, through getting his head down and staying in school, of escaping the abject poverty his parents live in, but he has his own problems. He is lured into become a drug dealer, making his living on the corner.
Created, written and produced by David Simon, who, at that time, had given us Homicide: Life On The Street and would later give us The Wire. The series is based on his non-fiction book "The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood". (The book was co-written with Ed Burns, who is also a writer on the show, and was a writer on The Wire).
Incredibly raw and gritty, so much so that it is often painful to watch. The conditions people have to live in, the desperation and seemingly lack of escape options make for very emotional and harrowing viewing. The fact that Gary and his family were living a fairly idyllic lifestyle before being brought down by drug addiction makes viewing even more painful.
As mentioned, it is quite painful to watch at times. Add to this the fact that it can be quite slow, so in some ways it is an ordeal, and though a very high-quality ordeal, you do sometimes wonder why you are willing to put yourself through it.
It all comes together in the end though and the conclusion is very powerful.
Having watched The Wire before this, even though The Corner was released in 2000 and The Wire in 2002-2008, you can see how The Corner is an evolutionary step in David Simon's creation of The Wire. In The Corner Simon concentrates on a few characters and how the drug trade in West Baltimore affects their lives. In The Wire, Simon takes roughly the same location and looks at the bigger picture, and the characters involved - police, drug kingpins, as well as the street-level drug dealers covered in The Corner.
You can even trace certain plot devices and developments in The Wire back to The Corner. For example, Namond in The Wire is DeAndre in The Corner to a large extent (though their fortunes diverge, from a point).
Plus, the cast of The Corner is jam-packed full of actors who appeared in The Wire. Makes for interesting, and sometimes jarring, viewing. Seeing Freamon, Daniels and Norman Wilson as dope fiends was a bit of a shock!
Created, written and produced by David Simon, who, at that time, had given us Homicide: Life On The Street and would later give us The Wire. The series is based on his non-fiction book "The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood". (The book was co-written with Ed Burns, who is also a writer on the show, and was a writer on The Wire).
Incredibly raw and gritty, so much so that it is often painful to watch. The conditions people have to live in, the desperation and seemingly lack of escape options make for very emotional and harrowing viewing. The fact that Gary and his family were living a fairly idyllic lifestyle before being brought down by drug addiction makes viewing even more painful.
As mentioned, it is quite painful to watch at times. Add to this the fact that it can be quite slow, so in some ways it is an ordeal, and though a very high-quality ordeal, you do sometimes wonder why you are willing to put yourself through it.
It all comes together in the end though and the conclusion is very powerful.
Having watched The Wire before this, even though The Corner was released in 2000 and The Wire in 2002-2008, you can see how The Corner is an evolutionary step in David Simon's creation of The Wire. In The Corner Simon concentrates on a few characters and how the drug trade in West Baltimore affects their lives. In The Wire, Simon takes roughly the same location and looks at the bigger picture, and the characters involved - police, drug kingpins, as well as the street-level drug dealers covered in The Corner.
You can even trace certain plot devices and developments in The Wire back to The Corner. For example, Namond in The Wire is DeAndre in The Corner to a large extent (though their fortunes diverge, from a point).
Plus, the cast of The Corner is jam-packed full of actors who appeared in The Wire. Makes for interesting, and sometimes jarring, viewing. Seeing Freamon, Daniels and Norman Wilson as dope fiends was a bit of a shock!