The Corner

It is also stunning, compelling and thoroughly, empathetically human. [14 Apr 2000, p.11E]

Relentlessly intense and depressing, ferociously written and spectacularly acted. [14 Apr 2000, p.135]

The Corner is a marvel - a powerful testament to the crumbling inner city, the Catch-22 of urban social services, and the strengths and vulnerabilities of the human spirit. [16 Apr 2000, p.K-09]

But what's amazing, maybe even revolutionary, about The Corner is this: as its narrative plays out in six laid-back, detail-packed, one-hour installments, you come to see that all the major characters don't belong in this place, in this life. [16 Apr 2000, p.1]

Powerful stuff. [16 Apr 2000]

Even to an audience growing increasingly used to gritty televised fare,it's a tough look, indeed. [26 Apr 2000, p.3E]

Assuming the perspectives of its characters, the series avoids cliches and condescension; the performances are remarkably free of the cheap mannerisms actors often resort to when playing addicts. But this insiders' view is still undermined by the tone of a cautionary tale. The fact that the series makes a plea to understand the characters' humanity, rather than a judgment about them, doesn't make it less didactic.