In honor of the return of Mark's copies of "The Wire" from Ithaca, I've decided to take the season on, all by myself, before I have to return the damn things this Friday. The show lacks the lyrical, artful finish of "Sopranos," yeah. But, my god, does David Simon have a gifted ear for dialogue. And it doesn't that his writing partners are mostly Ed Burns and Richard Price. Simon has a knack, and the observant writing is the high point of "The Wire." The writing enables everything to succeed.
But, most importantly, David Simon created one of the first great drunks of the 21st Century: Detective James, "Jimmy" McNulty of the Baltimore Police Department.
A talented, intuitive and mostly true grit kind of cop, McNulty is the rock of the series. When he's being a good cop, he's really damn good. But when he lets his drink out, he's an out of control mess. And yet, we watch, fascinated. Somehow, Dominic West's portrayal of McNulty and the show's naturalist style make him seem like something more than a cliched, drunken Irish cop who's bummed out about a divorce. Then again, I'm still in the Third season... but they did advertise his drunken-ness in Season 5. Oh well.
But, that's McNulty.
Ladies and gentlemen, his drunk:
4 comments:
My main man, McNutty!
That one sequence does really strike at the essence of him at his nadir; his drinking, loneliness, and womanizing compensation, but also his tenacity and perseverance when he knows everything is fucked up.
Now imagine starting the show by watching the fourth season, and then going back through 1-3. Gave me a bit of a different perspective.
Damn fine analysis.
But, what happens to McNutty after the third season (which I'm quietly slamming through)?
He get better then goes crackers. Then gets better.
Or vice versa. It can be hard to remember with him.
But I figure you'll be there by sometime tonight, right?
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