Share

Watch It

On DVD: Now | On Blu-ray: Now
Watch it on iTunes Buy on Amazon

The Central Park Five Review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 4.0
    79

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Generally favorable reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 70

    out of 100

    The New York Times Manohla Dargis

    Measured in tone and outraged in its argument, it is an emotionally stirring, at times crushingly depressing cinematic call to witness. It's also frustrating because while it re-examines the assault on the jogger and painstakingly walks you through what happened to the teenagers - from their arrest through their absolution - it fails to add anything substantively new.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    Variety

    Mixing a breathtaking array of archival materials with new talking-head interviews, the film analyzes the monumental miscarriage of justice repped by the 1989 Central Park Jogger case.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

    It projects equal parts fury and despair as it reveals how a particular group of individuals was caught in the unforgiving gears of the criminal justice system.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    Village Voice

    Because the filmmakers were unable to enlist anyone from the NYPD or the DA's office to participate, we are left with the sense that mistakes of this magnitude require those in error to hide from them.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

    It's a different city today, in a country that sees its racial and social divides with more clarity than it did back then. But the most troubling question the film raises is how clearly we may see even now.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    The Hollywood Reporter

    A meticulously reported chronicle of a case that shook New York in 1989 and remains a mark of shame on the city ten years after the convictions were vacated, the film incisively documents a travesty of justice that echoes the infamous Scottsboro Boys railroading of the 1930s.

    Read Full Review

  • 83

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

    This patient, righteous documentary by Ken Burns, David McMahon, and Sarah Burns recounts the story of justice undone (a serial rapist confessed) with extensive interviews, a thorough use of archival footage, and a less-than felicitous use of ominous-rumble music that unnecessarily insists, Isn't this an outrage?

    Read Full Review

  • 88

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    The case transfixed a racially polarized New York City. The teens were labeled as a "wolf pack" by the news media, led by the New York tabloids.

    Read Full Review

  • 88

    out of 100

    Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

    An unusually good documentary about an outlandish miscarriage of justice.

    Read Full Review

  • See all The Central Park Five reviews at Metacritic.com

View MoreView Less

Fan Reviews provided by

Average Rating: 4.571
Read all reviews Write a review at Fandango
5

EXCELLENT! EXCELLENT! EXCELLENT! by bnww
This is a must-see documentary about the real facts in the Central Park Jogger case. It's shameful how the NYPD and the Manhattan DA's office intentionally mishandled this case and the lives of teenage boys and the injustice to both sets of victims (the young boys and the female jogger that was brutally beaten). A MUST-SEE!!!

5

Riveting
A must see for any New Yorker who was alive in the 80's. The film brings back memories of how ruthless and corrupt New York City was and at times, still is to this day. Especially when you consider that these men unjustly lost their teenage years and the NYPD refuses to admit any wrong doing.

5

A TOTAL MUST SEE! It should be showing in EVERY BOROUGH! but DONT LET that stop U by aasramon
A total must see. The film was excellent. I am thankful that the film was done. The diectors did a great job and he young Men are very brave. There is so much that millions of people DONT KNOW about this case. It not nly sheds light on the case but forces us to ask questions about what we deed REAL, LEGAL, JUST. Sometimes we are so scared and angry -we fail to ask relevant questions. The CLUES were all there from day 1.....wow.

5

Leslie From Virginia by davisfam
I wish I could rate this film. It is not playing anywhere near us. I am from LI and remember when this happened. Please open this movie up to be seen everywhere. Everyone wants to be able to see this. Pleassse and thank you.

Read all The Central Park Five reviews at Fandango
Advertisement