In fact, from what Tom Junod tells CNN, the story brought to life by Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys on the big screen inspires feelings of nostalgia and brings back memories, which means the changes the movie made to the story weren’t all that glaring. In fact, while speaking about the tone of the movie and his own personal experience watching it, he says he really felt good about how things were portrayed, including the composite character loosely based on Junod, who was an Esquire writer who penned a famous piece on the TV host.
Article source: https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2485882/how-the-real-life-journalist-in-a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood-feels-about-the-movie