So, obviously, I'm white. As such, I like The Wire. Now, I've heard so many superlatives about this show: "best show ever," "best show on television," best show in the history of television." You get the gist. Now, I enjoy a gritty look at the underbelly of society that portrays the good, the bad, and the ugly of one of America's "forgotten" cities in a serial format as much as the next HBO fan. I'm finishing up the final season on DVD and I have to say, by now, there may be one too many subplots. I just finished an episode and I feel like a nine year old coming down from a Ritalin high. My head hurts. But there's something else that's been gnawing at me about the show and I couldn't quite place it until now. Sure, it's groundbreaking, gritty, labyrinthine, unflinching, intelligent, detailed and all that. But one aspect lauded by critics and fans alike (see the complaints about the lack of Emmy nominations in the making of docs) that I just can't quite affirm is: the acting. I decided who better than myself, a card carrying know it all, to critique the series' acting, actor by actor. Given the number of characters, this is quite a task. I'll try to stick to characters with a lot of screen time, so as not to get bogged down. Maybe let's go season by season. I'll give the character names instead of the actor, cos that would take too damn long. For a full list and some interesting backstory on the characters, the actors, and the real people the characters are based on, click here.
Season 1 -
first, the mainstays:
McNulty: credible job all the way through. Struggles at times with American accent. But overall, very good. Creates a lasting and memorable character B+
Judge Phelan: Not too much screen time, but solid job. Nothing to criticize here. B
Bunk: Very good job all the way through the series. By turns lovable and despicable, but always dapper. Great chemistry with the McNulty character. Especially the investigation scene in Season 1. A-
Sydnor: Understated. Does not lend much gravitas, nor ruins any scenes. B
Bubbles: Maybe the best actor of the series. Carried emotional scenes. Draws in the viewer. Creates one of the most memorable characters. Might not be overstated to call his character iconic. A+
Carver: Same as Sydnor, but a little more high strung. B+
Herc: character arc not quite believable, but that's not the actor's fault. You get the feeling he more or less played himself. But lends a certain likable dopeyness to the scenes he's in. B+
Kima Greggs: her first scene is atrocious, but her acting improves somewhat as the series progresses. C+/B-
Lester Freamon: bravura performance as the thoughtful introvert case-buster. A
Daniels: Not many gears. Often scene clenching jaw, opening mouth noisily while blinking, preparing to say something to put his underlings in their place. A tad overkill and monotonous performance. Memorably physique and physiognamy, at times underwhelming performance. B-
Rawls: The boss you love to hate. Great job in every scene. A
Pearlman: An interesting choice. Chin aquiver and looking incredulous, most of the time. But lends some spunk. B
Jay Landsman: Some of the weakest moments in season one come from this character, although he has some well written parts. Simply not believable acting in many scenes. Like Kima, improves somewhat as the series progresses. B-/C+
Burrell: A serious weak spot in the cast. Timing and inflection consistently off. C-
Presbylewski: Starts off as an annoying cast member, but the part is written that way, and really starts pulling his weight in Season four. B
Stringer Bell: Superb acting. A
Avon Barksdale: Ditto. Knocks his parts out of the park. A
Brianna Barksdale: interesting casting, but more than pulls her weight. A-
D'Angelo Barksdale: One of the highlights of Season One. A
Poot. OK B
Body. Consistently engaging performance. Not self conscious at all while acting. A
Wallace. OK B
Wee-Bay. Consistent and believable B+
Omar: Michael K. Williams in certainly one of the most memorable and iconic performances of the decade. A juicy character full of contradictions that Williams sinks his teeth into. You only lament that he never gets the chance to take out Marlo, Snoop, and Partlow for killing Butchie. But the show isn't about being "satisfying" in that way. The one "Robin Hood" character you root for the whole way through. The series would have been much less memorable without this character and this performance. A+++
Season 2
Prop Joe. Very good at slipping into Baltimorean. A-
Royce. OK B
Beedie good, vulnerable. B+
Valchek. wonderfully despicable. B+
Frank Sobotka. solid. a little overkill. B
Nick Sobotka. Fine job all around. B+
Ziggy Sobotka. Low point of season two. Whiny overacting. The part didn't give him many redeemable qualities, but the overacting made his scenes almost unbearable. So much so that he's back in Generation Kill. Hm. Oh well. He's not quite as bad in that series. Has he taken some classes in the meantime? D
Vondas. Believable. Unflappable character. His scenes witht he gray outside the window and his slow pronunciation created scenes of, well, boredom. Not the actor's fault though. Season two dragged at times. B
The Greek. He's not even Greek. B
Boris/Sergei. Struggled to make it through his speaking parts. Struggled with his Russian accent. Just Struggled C
Season 3
Bunny Colvin. Fine actor. Well written. Puts his scenes to good use. A-
Clay Davis. Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. Overactor par excellence. The poster child of overacting. Annoying voice. Timing is off, even on his catch-phrase (catch-word?) Yes, you despise the character. But he is so self-consciously and horribly acted, you just want the scene to be over with. F
Carcetti: Weird casting. An Irish actor who stumbled over his inflection time after time. At times just plain awkward. But could still sell a scene. B-
Partlow: Stoic. Quiet. Deadly. Didn't do much "acting" in the dramatic sense, but was a presence. B
Snoop: The feel good story of the Wire. So authentic. So Baltimore. So incomprehensible. B
Marlo: Boyish. Smug. Mostly understated, but menacing at times. Solid performance. B+
Dennis Cutty: So slow at times, he seemed retarded. Improved throughout seasons 3 and 4, but never quite gets over the hump into what we might call "acting." C
Slim Charles: Not the kind of actor that would normally be seen. This, I assume is one of the selling points for people who truly love the show. Imporved by leaps and bounds as the show went on. Was sort of lame at first. The "now he home" line from the end of some episode in Season 3 stuck in my head for some time due to its severe lameness. Like Partlow, more of a presence than an actor, except the actor portraying Partlow had some acting experience, it seemed. C+
Cheese - Method Man was miscast. Too recognizable. Overacted the part. C
Season 4
Duquan
Michael
Namond
Randy
Each does a fine job with what they're given B+
Season 5
Gus Haynes - By the time we get to him, we're thankful someone in the newsroom can act. A-
Templeton. Sort of forgettable. B
Alma. Needs lessons. C
Walon. What can you say about Steve Earle. Interesting idea. There's an understated celebrity/authenticity factor. He is one of the finest lyricists of his generation. But this isn't a song, it's a TV show. His head kept bobbling side to side in a strange fashion, and even though you kind of sense the authenticity (before I found out it was THE Steve Earle, I assumed it was an actual Baltimore social worker or soemthing, for authenticity purposes. C
Now, I know there is much more to The Wire than the acting. The story is first rate. The social issues are hugely important. But there are times in the series that the quality of the show suffered because of crappy acting. That's all I'm saying. The problem with that is bad acting takes you out of a scene, out of the story, makes you aware of its "contrivedness." Landmark series. Great. Sure. But if we're talking "all time best TV shows," I'll still have to go with Six Feet Under with The Wire a distant second.
