City So Real - Season 1

City So Real could have been a deeply dry look at the candidates, but James and his team are constantly placing them against the greater backdrop of the city and its people.

Responsible to the historic moment yet enthralling in a minute-by-minute capacity few unscripted or scripted TV series can earn, Steve James' latest is a flat-out must-see.

James creates in this series the feel of an honest romantic letter to a difficult mate.

A five-part documentary that proves richly detailed but a bit too messy, pulling in disparate stories and characters at the expense of a cohesive picture.

It's tempting to call it [director Steve James'] crowning achievement, though when you have Hoop Dreams on your resume, the competition for that accolade is stiff.

Though the mayoral hopefuls get more solo screen time, profiling them alongside their civilian constituents grounds the election in the communities that will be affected by its results.

A noble, heartfelt, and eye-opening look at the American city, matching the scope of Frederick Wiseman's recent scoping of a similarly fractious Boston in "City Hall," but giving it more of a human pulse.

So many stories. Class, race, geography. So many desires, hope, fear, rivalries, love, so many aspirants, so many bull----ers; so much bloodsport in politics and real estate and faith, too: in community and the possibility of change.

As to be expected from Steve James, City So Real is a masterful examination of a people, a place, and a culture.

Sprawling, sophisticated and yet deeply focussed, this is a master work of precision and scope, and an instant classic in the political documentary genre.

City So Real is a powerful and engrossing look at the cities that make us who we are and how we can effect genuine and sincere change within those communities.

Exploring racial and cultural contradictions that often lurk just below the surface, James's camera seems to parse the dissonance and cacophony of city noise to locate each individual voice for a brief moment.