‘Show Me A Hero,’ The David Simon HBO Show With Oscar Isaac, Premieres In August
WhenOscar Isaacwas castinThe WirecreatorDavid Simon’s limited seriesShow Me a Hero, plenty of people knew he was a great talent, and there was plenty reason to be interested in a series that drew the two together. Now, however, we’ve all seen Isaac inEx Machina, not to mention the trailers and photos fromStar Wars: The Force Awakens. So it’s a great time for new info on the HBO series, however brief it may be. TheShow Me a Heropremiere has been announced for August, and we’ve got a bit more info below.
The six-hour miniseriesShow Me a Herois scripted by David Simon andWilliam F. Zorzi, who was also a writer onThe Wire.Paul Haggis(Crash), will direct. The series will premiere August 16 on HBO, and Isaac will be joined by a supporting cast that includesWinona Ryder,Catherine Keener,Alfred Molina,Bob Balaban,LaTanya Richardson-Jackson, andJim Belushi.
Varietyreports that the series, set in Yonkers in the ’60s, “will explore the concepts of home, race and community while following the lives of elected officials, bureaucrats and citizens,” which makes it sound like familiar territory for Haggis, too, and no matter what you think of Crash, having Simon on board as well is enough to overcome doubts for me.
The series is based on Lisa Belkin’s book, and follows this story:
A young mayor (Oscar Isaac) is met with a federal court order forcing him to build low-income housing units in white neighborhoods. He grapples with this decision that can potentially tear his entire city apart and inadvertently end his political career.
There’s definitely some provocative and potentially button-pushing material there, but again, I’ll default back to faith in the capabilities of Isaac, Simon, and co-writer Zorzi.
