The Bronx is Burning: ESPN

"Everyone is spectacular, even the secondary players like Leonard Armond Robinson as Mickey Rivers, who steals more scenes than bases, and Erik Jensen, who so underplays Munson that he’s mesmerizing - and, most especially, Michael Rispoli, who plays Jimmy Breslin - or should I say becomes Breslin? Don’t miss it. Just great." (New York Post)"As well as New Yorkers know these three characters, it’s amazing how quickly the real faces fade and the three actors here become their own "strong-willed people." (Newsday)"The unsettling juxtaposition of Yankees fever with Son of Sam’s reign of terror is intriguing, but could have used a stronger authorial voice to tie it together…. Still, even non-Yankees fans should enjoy this one."(TV Guide)"Once you accept the quiet rhythms and deliberate pace of The Bronx Is Burning, though, it begins to pay off." (New York Daily News)"As epic as Reggie vs. Billy or Billy vs. George were on the sports pages in the summer of Sam, it doesn’t feel like quite enough to fill eight hours of scripted drama." (Newark Star-Ledger)"The Bronx Is Burning succeeds because of the mutually-assured-destruction brand of combustibility among its lead characters - there is something of “Barbarians at the Gate” in the gleeful madness of the Yankees plot - and because of the incidents that the writers and director choose to recreate." (New York Times)"It’s supposed to be a story of New York and its many demons, but it works best as a tale of loud, proud, surprisingly brittle men." (Boston Globe) "You don’t have to be a New Yorker to enjoy ESPN’s eight-part miniseries, The Bronx is Burning, although it might help." (Wall Street Journal)"Despite some fine performances, it fails to show a connection." (Hollywood Reporter)"ESPN’s eight-episode mini-series plays remarkably flat despite a sharp portrayal by John Turturro as the eye at the center of the storm." (Variety)"If you enjoy inside baseball, it’s an interesting dynamic to view, and it’s made cohesive by solid efforts from the actors, scriptwriter James D. Solomon and director Jeremiah S. Chechik." (Chicago Sun-Times)

Compiled by Scott Clifford & Bryon Rudd