It’s hardly news that the trailer for Show Me a Hero looks jaw-droppingly good; any project with the names David Simon, Oscar Isaac and Catherine Keener attached to it would have to work really hard not to be exciting.
The 6-part miniseries — or at least what the trailer reveals of it — looks to expose the destructive potential of dormant and/or casual racism. It seems that all race/class relations are tensely stagnant in Yonkers until mayor Nick Wasicsko (the young, real-life mayor who died in an apparent suicide in 1993) attempts to erect low-income housing units in wealthier, whiter neighborhoods. As per the official synopsis, “his attempt to do so tears the entire city apart, paralyzes the municipal government and, ultimately, destroys the mayor and his political future.”
Show Me a Hero‘s cast also includes Winona Ryder, Alfred Molina, LaTanya Richardson-Jackson, Jim Belushi, and Bob Balaban. The miniseries, which is based on Lisa Belkin’s same-titled book, will make its two-episode debut on HBO on August 16. Watch the trailer: