Directed by: Paul Haggis
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Catherine Keener, Winona Ryder, Jim Belushi, Alfred Molina, Bob Balaban, Peter Reigert, Jon Bernthal
Show Me A Hero contains great performances, especially by Oscar Isaac, in search of a film we can sink our teeth into. The elements are here for a story which never takes flight. You would think a story about a heated citywide war over public housing in Yonkers is a firecracker. It is a dud instead. Sad.
Show Me A Hero is based on true events in the late 1980's-early 1990's Yonkers. The story focuses on councilman Nick Wasicsko (Isaac), who wins election for mayor and inherits the public housing issue from embattled former mayor Angelo Martinelli (Belushi). A federal judge (Balaban) orders the city to build 200 units of public housing under threat of daily fines which would bankrupt the city within a month. Despite the court order, the city council refuses to follow it and attempts to fight it in court. No luck.
The issue is soon a major political football. With the financial welfare of Yonkers in mind over public sentiment (which is mostly and vehemently against the proposal), Wasicsko uses his deft political acumen to win the votes necessary to approve the measure. This makes him unpopular with the vocal majority. He is spit on and yelled at, but he stays the course. When someone calls him and asks, "Why are you trying to abide by the court order when everyone is against it?" His perfect reply is, "Because I'm trying to be a leader."
Oscar Isaac is proving to be a special talent who can elevate even bad material. He is perpetually interesting. He says more with a look, a glance, or body language than other actors can with full speeches. We sense and empathize with the man who is holding himself together under nearly unbearable pressure. What makes Isaac special is how much we feel the pressure for him. His ability to relay his frustration internally is something not all actors can do well. It is quite a performance and, without it, Show Me A Hero would be barely watchable. His ability to make us empathize is remarkable.
The performances by the top notch cast are all strong. Catherine Keener as Mary, a Yonkers woman who is at first against the housing, but becomes an activist in favor of it, arrives at her change subtly. We sense that the scales will fall from her eyes eventually, but it is still an interesting transformation. Alfred Molina makes a bombastic and bravado-driven Hank Spallone, who replaces Wasicsko as mayor on an anti-housing platform, only to find he made promises he can't keep. Thus is with politics. As Judge Sand, Bob Balaban plays a judge at the end of his rope listening to excuses as to why his ruling can't be implemented. Yet, he is not a hanging judge, just one who doesn't like when his rulings are ignored.
Wasicsko is the focus of the story. He has a love for the danger and drama of politics. It is almost an addiction for him. When he is voted out of office, he hangs around the house killing time until he can get his name on the next ballot. He loves politics because he believes, perhaps foolishly, that he can make a difference. He tries, fails, and tries again. His ultimate fate is based on the possibility that his reputation will be tarnished forever due to an investigation that may kill his future in politics. He can not live with that and pays the ultimate price. Watch the scene in which Wasicsko shuffles around in a vacant room in his house. He is distraught and confused. He does not which way to turn, but figuratively and literally. We see the tragedy behind F. Scott Fitzgerald's saying, "Show me a hero, and I'll show you a tragedy." Now we know what he means.
The mini-series cuts away often from the political maneuvering and meetings and gives us glimpses of projects residents who will ultimately live in the housing. They are flawed, hopeful, and trying to get by. We see both sides of the issue, which is commendable by Haggis.
However, Show Me A Hero lacks juice. It is also documentary-like while holding us outside. The series depicts what's happening, but never conveys a feeling about it. It is almost like watching the story on the news. We see it, we are witnesses, but yet we feel detached because it's really someone else's problem. Show Me A Hero mixes race relations and politics in an uneasy bag. While we hear the reasons for and against the housing, the stakes just don't seem to be high enough to engage us. Show Me A Hero never shows us why we should care and we don't feel it either.
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