dvd>Featured Categories>Television>HBO>More HBO Titles>HBO Films>
HBO Films Search HBO Films HBO FilmsThe Corner (HBO Miniseries)
HBO Video Search HBO Video by T.K. Carter Khandi Alexander Sean Nelson Clarke Peters Glenn Plummer Search T.K. Carter Khandi Alexander Sean Nelson Clarke Peters Glenn Plummer
 |
Released: 2003-07-22 Rating:  More Details: The Corner (HBO Miniseries) The Corner (HBO Miniseries) @Amazon The Corner (HBO Miniseries) @aStore |
Product Description
Movie DVD
The bleak reality of drug addiction is captured with unflinching authenticity in The Corner, an excellent, reality-based HBO miniseries. Having lived on the streets of West Baltimore, Maryland, where this compelling drama takes place, actor-director Charles S. Dutton knows the territory, physically, socially, and emotionally, and his compassionate approach is vital to the series' success. Dutton cares for his characters deeply enough to give them a realistic shred of hope, even when hope is consistently dashed by the ravages of addiction. This is, at its root, a family tragedy, focusing on errant father Gary (T.K. Carter, in a heartbreaking performance) a once-successful investor trapped in a tailspin of heroin dependency. His estranged wife Fran (Khandi Alexander) was the first to get hooked, and she's struggling to get clean, while their 15-year-old son DeAndre (Sean Nelson, from the indie hit Fresh) deals drugs, temporarily avoiding their deadly allure while facing the challenge of premature fatherhood.
Through revealing flashbacks and numerous local characters, we see the explicit fallout of addiction, and while violence occasionally erupts, its constant threat is secondary to Dutton's dramatic vision, which remains steadfastly alert to the humanity and neglected potential of these lost and searching souls. The Corner is, essentially, the civilian flipside of HBO's equally laudable series The Wire, which approaches a similar neighborhood from a police-squad perspective. Performances are uniformly superb, details are uncannily perfect, and for all of its human horror, The Corner is riveting, not depressing. A closing interview with the characters' real-life counterparts bears witness to the fact that these lives--with inevitable exceptions--need not be lost forever. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Amazing TV Miniseries, Very Moving and Affecting
The Corner is wonderful and I can't believe I hadn't seen this show before. I've been a fan of The Wire for years and watched all the seasons. I feel that The Corner is actually better than The Wire. The Corner takes place in Baltimore where a street corner is run by teenage men selling drugs. The adults seem to be drug addicts and hopeless most of the time and the younger set seem to be sellers and abusers. One family is unique. The parents had good jobs and the father had one year of college - amazing in these parts. The mother became an abuser and partier of cocaine and eventually the father took to herion. His explanation is that the people doing drugs around him including his wife were criticizing him and encouraging him to do it. He thought people would like him better if he abused drugs too. Unfortunately, they liked him less. A young girl at 13 has a baby. The young man doesn't go to school or work, he hangs on the corner. All this is based on real story and ring true. Some people survive, others don't but all still live in this area.
Inspirational film 
This is a thought provoking, inspirational movie yet not for the faint of heart. If you're coming off the needle I wouldn't watch it if I were you. If you have a neighborhood like this one you'll get some insight on what's going on with the people within it. I'm glad I bought the mini-series yet I really wish it had more documentary material within.
REQUIRED VIEWING FOR ALL TEENS!
There is not one young person in this country who would not be penetrated straight throught the heart into the gut by this masterpeice of reality!
Having come so very close to this horror in Baltimore 30 years ago...actually walked over dead bodies to get into the house I was visiting...this now exists in probably every community in this country.
Watch this, knowing that the reason this is way beyond help at this point is for one reason...the local police departments!
Very Satisfied 
I really enjoyed this movie. It arrived brand new in its original packaging. It made for a great gift to my boyfriend.
Liked The Wire? You'll like this.
'The Corner'is a fore-runner to 'The Wire' - well kind of. A fair section of the actors crop up again in 'The Wire' but not playing the same characters. What this series does is give viewers from this eastern side of the big pond some context to the socio-economic politics of being "on the corner".
I recommend that you just watch it. It's another example of outstanding television alongside 'The Wire', 'The Sopranos', 'Hill Street Blues', 'NYPD Blue' ....
Listmania Lists:
The Best Hood Movies Period
Baltimore
Greatest Black Television Shows
Obsessed with "The Wire"
THE REAL SICKEST MOVIES EVER MADE 2008
Your Guide to the Work of Wire Co-Creator David Simon
For fans of HBO's "The Wire"
Best TV Mini-Series
Virtual Baltimore
My favorite books (and movies based on books)
RELATED:
