The Bronx, USA (2019) User Reviews

Lacklustre

[mikeww-64309 · 5/10 · 23 April 2021]

I was looking forward to a "documentary" on the Bronx...what I got was a fluffy walk down memory lane. Other than learning that the Bronx is North of Manhattan I didn't learn a single thing about what makes it a unique or special place. All the friendship based themes could be applied to many places. Seemed to morph into a high school grad class story. Good for background TV while dusting the furniture.

Barely Even Scratches the Surface

[YoLaLogan · 1/10 · 5 November 2019]

At best a collection of archive footage. Spends a ridiculous amount of time covering the topic of friendship, as if people having friends is unique to the Bronx. The rest of the time is talking heads calling the Bronx "magic" over and over. It's actually impressive how they managed to avoid covering almost anything that truly distinguishes the Bronx. Music direction is extremely corny. No idea how this made it onto HBO.

Touching and well done!

[Rich-250 · 9/10 · 7 November 2019]

Clearly the producers and actors put their hearts into this in bringing to life the old and the new. This is especially so in the way they covered many of the students, whose journeys parallel those of the older folks when they lived there. It helps to be of a certain age in viewing this and even more so if you hail from the Bronx. A thoughtful, entertaining and ultimately celebratory documentary. I particularly liked how at the end-credits they updated the status of many of the students who were the subjects of much of this film.

One of the most boring things I have ever watched.

[cpbacon-30117 · 2/10 · 2 November 2019]

This "documentary" celebrates the history and diversity of the Bronx (duh!) . I already knew from the opening song and dance number, that this was something more up my grandfathers alley. If you like The Lawrence Welk Show you will enjoy this old fashioned upbeat celebration of the Bronx and its people. In other words it is boring AF.

Surprisingly Touching

[johnnygarson · 10/10 · 6 November 2019]

I lived in The Bronx by total accident in my early 20's and I was really glad to find this. I laughed a whole bunch and I found myself with tears in my eyes 5 or 6 times too. Every single thing Robert Klein says is hilarious, and it was amazing to see the footage from years back. And to hear the stories. Great stuff HBO!

No one younger than 70 would love this film

[omgsocks · 1/10 · 7 November 2019]

I am happy for the producers of this film that they were able to make a tribute to their friendship and neighborhood but I felt no connection to these men or their Bronx even though I am also from the Bronx. The Bronx as I know it is not the same Bronx that they knew, that Bronx is gone and their story was pretty boring unfortunately. Though again, I am very happy for them.

Misses the Mark - big time

[dwatson12255 · 1/10 · 13 January 2020]

The name of this move should have been 'Mosholu Parkway - USA' because that;'s the only Bronx area that it depicted. My family moved to the Bronx from Harlem in 1959 and I lived there up until 2006. It was hard to identify with this depiction of my hometown because it was so narrow. I could not identify with these folks as my fond memories of The Bronx encompasses so many other areas of the borough. The Bronx has both a rich and chaotic history and this movie fell flat on delivering any of it. Although this film was nostalgic in its delivery of the memories of these old guys, but it did not capture diversity of the borough. The other areas of the Bronx is a lot more interesting than the "well to do" Mosholu Parkway area.

OMG - Facebook for TV

[drjgardner · 1/10 · 14 October 2020]

The social media craze is really annoying. No sooner do you let someone be your "friend" then they start sending you more information about their lives than you ever wanted to know. "Here's what I'm eating." "Here's where I live." "Here's where I visiting". "This is my friend." That degree of self-involvement, self-importance, and bad taste has now made its way to TV with "The Bronx" in which a bunch of old guys from (guess where?) the Bronx walk you through their neighborhood. There might have been some value here if it wasn't so narcissistic nor, quite frankly, so boring. To be fair I stopped after about 30 minutes.