This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The only reason I threw this show some stars is because of Oscar Issac's performance. Other than that, it didn't really need to be made into a show. If for whatever reason, you're interested in 1980's Yonkers politics, then this brief series of event can be read on Wikipedia in about 15 mins. INSTEAD OF WATCHING ABOUT IT FOR 7 HOURS!! It really was like sitting through a long boring conference meeting, where people squabble about politics, we follow the lives of some mildly interesting characters, while our HERO(?) fights earnestly to slightly improve their living arrangements. Show me a Hero? I'm still waiting...

The production is impeccable, with beautiful cinematography, and a realism that captures both the middle class neighborhoods and poverty with almost chillingly accurate detail.The performances by Oscar Davis, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder (just to pick a few) are perfect. But the exposition is just so tedious that I found it a chore to watch. I really want to know what happens. I live near Yonkers and even though this drama played out while I considered buying a house there, I don't even know how it was resolved.The problem with this series is not the slow pace of the courtroom and council meetings. At least they have some pomp and ceremony that defines the proceedings. Its the very slow pace at which each character moves ahead at like two steps per minute. There's not a bit of nuance or shading to the characters - they're all just tortured by the dilemma they face. In the end, watching it feels like a chore.

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.