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Best movie ever!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It's 1987 Yonkers, New York. Nick Wasicsko (Oscar Isaac) is a rookie Democratic councilman. He is the sacrificial lamb sent to run against a powerful incumbent mayor. Federal judge Sand had ruled against the city forcing it to built low income housing. This set off the electorate and Wasicsko surprises in an upset win. With the city facing bankruptcy by the judge's imposed fines, he tries to pass the housing laws enraging the voters and sending the town spiraling.At first, I didn't realize this is a true story about real people. It would have helped. Who knew that city council could be that exciting? It overshadows the stories from the black community. It's obvious where the intersection is going to be but those stories have a slower start. They are also two different pacing. Even Wasicsko's story has two very different tones. His story in the first three episodes are thrilling and harrowing. Then the last three episodes are more deliberate and melancholy. It's not the traditional pacing of a fictional story and it would help to know its docudrama nature. The acting is amazing. Oscar Isaac shows some of his best work but is only the tip of a vast compelling cast of characters. There are compelling emotional beats throughout.

The forced building of public housing in a mainly white middle class in Yonkers is the background for the story which follows councilman Nick Wasicsko's journey through the despite. So many issues of race and class and politics merge together. This true story is so good that it left me reeling after it finished. The title is simplistic but the story is much more complicated.Who would guess city council politics and real estate disputes could be so tense and make such compelling viewing. So much dirty politics in such a small city with it's betrayal and loyalty. There is a lot of jumping between the different characters on the many sides of the dispute. There are the local politicians, the people from the projects who would benefit from a better place to live and some of the residents of Yonkers who feel threatened by the new housing. It's a bit difficult to keep track of the different characters at first. Paul Haggis does a good job of including the different points of view but I think he could have reduced completed more of one plot line before jumping to another.The acting is award worthy. Oscar Isaac is very watchable as the viewer follows the up and down trajectory of Nick's tragic life. His earnestness, courage, despair are so utterly convincing that the ultimate tragedy is really painful. Supporting cast are worth a mention. Winona Ryder has become very good at showing conflicted emotions and when she is on screen she steals the show. Catherine Keener is unrecognizable as one of the Yonkers residents who changes her tone.Do watch this even if you think you might not be interested in the subject matter - it's better than you could possibly imagine.

I saw the first two episodes, and I really liked this show. Its similar to the wire but to me this is more entertaining. Its very realistic but not in a boring way, the tension of the housing project is building up more and more. The good people of Yonkers are not so good when this project is unstoppable. Racism, hate and death threats are all part of what the mayor have to deal with. Its intense without overdoing it. People are not monsters but they trigger each other into a hateful mob. Its an impossible situation for the newly elect mayor, if he doesn't implement the housing project Yonkers is breaking the law and that will have severe consequences. But if he will continue he will have to deal with the pure hate the people of Yonkers feel for this project. An interesting slice of history, very well executed with great actors and a director that knows what he is doing.

What a BORING miniseries. The political plot line was so tedious and uninteresting. I have no idea why anyone would want to run for office if this is what it's all about. I thought that a follow-up series to True Detective was going to be a fascinating production. What a letdown. How this ever got green-lighted by HBO I will never know. I could only stand about 30 minutes of this dog. So bad. I switched to watching a rerun on MSNBC of their jail series.Isaac is a good actor, but trying to invigorate a dead-boring script is more than any actor can manage.Hopefully HBO will find some better scripts to finance and showcase.