Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) submits his first draft of a profile about Mister Rogers (Tom Hanks) to the editor. His whole reluctance to write about him comes out, and he says: “I just don’t know if he’s real.” This is not an uncommon reaction to the lore around Fred Rogers.
Mister Rogers, a children’s television icon, has been revered as some kind of deity among men with many wondering if that person they’ve grown up with is the same one they see off screen. In A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood directed by Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?), we have yet another example of the application of Mister Rogers’ guiding principles on an extremely jaded writer. So we get both heartwarming and humorous moments in this story.
Adapted from Tom Junod’s Esquire article about his encounter with Mister Rogers; it begins at Lloyd’s long lasting grudge against his dad Jerry (Chris Cooper). This is affecting his work as a journalist, a father to baby Gavin, and also as Andrea’s husband Susan Kelechi Watson.
Having just had an intense confrontation with Jerry, Lloyd next finds himself tasked with profiling Mister Rogers. But when he interacts with Lloyd on set, Roger immediately touches Lloyd by asking gentle questions about Lloyd’s life. Afterward though their interaction becomes more gentler which allows for forgiveness in ways that seem both strange and welcome since it never happens.
No successful film about Mr.Rogers can exist without a suitably successful Mr.Rogers; Tom Hanks fulfills this role perfectly well. While not entirely spot-on impersonation of Roger’s personaity,Hanks gets right the musicality and compassion displayed by him.And what especially makes Hanks so great in this regard is how well him and Matthew Rhys converse naturally.Rhys plays the perfect pessimistic foil and it’s that formula of his sly sarcasm set against Hanks’ unwavering conviction that brings about plenty laughable moments.
However, Heller’s direction and artistic choices go beyond the impressive performances and bring an extra texture to the film. As in the train sequence of Mister Rogers’ original Neighborhood was used like this.
Here, it acts as a bridge between scenes breaking up location changes as when Lloyd flies from NY to Pittsburgh. Then there is one scene in the middle of the movie that is so trippy it barely fits. On the flip side though, it blends perfectly with the make-believe world created by Rogers himself; Heller just pushes weirdness a little bit further.
The Verdict
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood isn’t your typical Mister Rogers tale. More about Mr.Rogers have been sought after including a well-received biography on him released in 2018 called Won’t You Be My Neighbor? But where Won’t You Be My Neighbor breaks down the principles of Rogers, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood showcases how these principles affect one man. So this film – and indeed Rogers himself -is likeable and emotional with many funny parts: he/it holds our heart tight making it difficult to let go.
Watch free movies on Fmovies
