A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
Starring: Matthew Rhys, Tom Hanks, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Cooper
Directed By: Marielle Heller
Rated: PG
Get your red sweaters, grab the tissues, and head on down to Mister Rogers neighborhood because it’s a beautiful day!
If you watched the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? you may recall sobbing in the theater as it recounted the life of Fred Rogers with emotional detail. Guess what? Tom Hanks is playing Mister Rogers now. Get ready to cry again.
A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood follows cynical journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) as he is assigned to profile Mister Rogers for a magazine article. Lloyd has endured a dysfunctional family life that has left him jaded. As Lloyd tries to interview Rogers, he flips the script on him. Mister Rogers begins trying to understand Lloyd and the pain of his past. Can it lead to healing?
Marielle Heller’s direction of A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood is wonderfully creative. The framework of the film is set up like an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood made for an adult audience. Even the transitions look like they’re straight from the set of the tv show. As Lloyd travels from New York to Pittsburgh to interview Rogers, it looks like he is traveling via tiny car, bus, or plane set piece making his way to the city as Mister Rogers narrates. The entirety of the “episode” is focused on Lloyd confronting his past. Everyone knows Mister Rogers was excellent in communicating with children but Heller’s direction paired with Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue’s screenplay emphasizes how wonderfully his message of love and kindness translates to adults as well.
I love Tom Hanks but admit to being a bit skeptical of him portraying Fred Rogers. When I saw the initial preview of the film, he didn’t look or sound like Mister Rogers. Well, Tom Hanks proved me wrong! He may not look too much like Rogers but he completely captures his essence. The way he speaks in a slow and calming manner is very reminiscent of Mister Rogers. There’s a gentle kindness to every one of Hanks’ scenes that is so moving. He completely captures the love that Rogers had for his neighbors. Today, many people view Mister Rogers as a “saintly” figure but through his interviews with Lloyd the film highlights that he is human like everyone else. He experienced anger, stress, and frustration like we all do. Yet he always found a wonderful way of showing kindness to others. Tom Hanks also showcases Rogers’ bold creativity whether it’s through his TV show, songs, or puppetry. He made me tear up multiple times in this film with his phenomenal acting. He needs to be Oscar nominated for this film. If he isn’t, the Oscars are simply wrong!
Many may think this is a standard “Mister Rogers biopic” but it’s not. It’s a film that spends a lot of time weaving together the story of Lloyd and his family with Mister Rogers. As Lloyd deals with pain from the dysfunctional relationship with his father (Chris Cooper), he struggles with his other relationships. He’s a brand new father and struggles to juggle both work and the relationship with his understanding wife, Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson). Matthew Rhys portrays the cynicism and pain of Lloyd in a very believable way. He undergoes a character transformation throughout the film as he profiles Mr. Rogers. Simple teachings like “feelings are important” and “forgiveness is meaningful” go such a long way for Lloyd in his road to healing a lifetime of dysfunction.
It’s easy to think that Mister Rogers was a show that we watched as children. We can look back at it with nostalgia and a sense of child-like wonder. However, A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood illustrates that Mister Rogers words are just as meaningful to adults as they are to children. By framing this film through the eyes of an adult man, we see that emotional pain is universal. Love and kindness goes such a long way.
Mister Rogers is such an important figure to me. He always stood for what he believed in and let his faith speak in the way he treated others. It’s an example I hope to follow by being more kind everyday. A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood captures the message of Fred Rogers and brings it to life. It’s a creative and beautiful film brimming with the message of forgiveness and love.
My Rating: 9/10