A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Starring: Matthew Rhys, Tom Hanks, Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Maryann Plunkett, Enrico Colantoni, Wendy Makkena, Tammy Blanchard, Noah Harpster, and Carmen Cusack
Director: Marielle Heller
Writers: Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster
Genres: Biography, Drama, Family
MPAA Rating: PG for some strong thematic material, a brief fight, and some mild language
Box Office: $67.93 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is the film adaptation of Tom Junod’s magazine article about the life and impact of Fred Rogers, the children’s television host. The film fictionalizes the complexities of the life of a reporter (based on Junod) and the ways that his interactions with Mr. Rogers improve his outlook on life and his relationships with his family members. It stars Matthew Rhys as Lloyd Vogel, the hard-hitting, jaded reporter looking for the flaws in Rogers’s life, and Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers in a role that garnered his most recent Oscar nomination. The film serves more as an exploration of the ways we interact with others than as a Mr. Rogers biopic, but that also makes it more universally applicable.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
Viewers who come into A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood expecting a film starring Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers as the film’s central character or a biopic of Fred Rogers are going to leave their viewing mildly disappointed. The film chooses to use Mr. Rogers more as a force for positive change than as a legitimate character to be explored, showcased by the character’s hesitancy to give Vogel any straight answers throughout the film. This does not mean that Mr. Rogers does not factor into the film. In fact, without Mr. Rogers, the film could not exist – it is his impact, his view of the world, and his way of approaching struggle and conflict that invokes change in the film’s central figures. At the end of the day, people looking for a purely factual account of Mr. Rogers and his life are not going to find it here. However, fans of Mr. Rogers should still be satisfied by the evaluation of his impact that the film chooses to embrace.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
For starters, director Marielle Heller made a beautiful choice in framing the film as an extended episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. The production design that fluctuates between that of a PBS show and that of a film truly helps the audience get into the right mindset to experience the wonder of the world of Fred Rogers. The use of mini sets and vehicles for transitions is truly delightful. Additionally, the film’s introductory and concluding scenes being set in the world of the show serve to distance the film’s fictional aspects from the realistic events contained within it. Even the brief “How Magazines are Made” bit in the first act is a great nod to the show and a cool piece of filmmaking as well.
Even though the film is not a pure biopic, it still manages to capture the essence of who Fred Rogers was and what he hoped to accomplish with his life. His nearly unflappable optimism and his limitless patience are on display through Tom Hanks’s portrayal of the man, but his spirit shines through in the film’s overall message. By fictionalizing family drama in the life of the reporter doing a piece on Fred Rogers, the film creates relatable situations where his outlook can truly shine. As a new parent, Lloyd struggles to adapt his work life to his home life, bringing tension with his wife and discomfort with his new baby. Similarly, his strained relationship with his father consistently forces him to confront feelings of anger and resentment that are common for so many. Through his interactions with Mr. Rogers, Lloyd is able to come to terms with his feelings and relationships, growing in the process, showcasing the ways that Mr. Rogers’s methods and beliefs are far more universally applicable than just in children’s television.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention Tom Hanks’s performance. After going nearly twenty years and more than twenty films without an Oscar nomination, with this role he was able to showcase a skill that I’m sure many questioned if he still had. He plays this incredibly wholesome icon of American television with so much care and attention to detail, feeling in every frame as though he is an embodiment of the deceased Fred Rogers. Though some might point out some small accent issues here or there, I think the performance is, like the film it is a part of, true to the spirit of Mr. Rogers in a way that I’m not sure anyone else could accomplish. From little things like the way he ties his shoes to big things like his ability to connect deeply with the audience (both on-screen and at home), Tom Hanks feels like the perfect actor for this role and portrayed him in a manner befitting his positive impact.
Tom Hanks’s award-worthy performance as Fred Rogers combines with production design and storytelling that capture the world and message of Mr. Rogers beautifully in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, making its place among the Greatest Films of All Time make perfect sense to me. Though some may take issue with the historical inaccuracies of a supposed biopic or the marked lack of focus on the character of Fred Rogers, I think it does more to capture his essence and message than any pure biopic could ever do. (There’s also a really good documentary if you really are worried about the facts – Won’t You Be My Neighbor?.) This film is currently available to stream on Fubo or through DirecTV or to rent from most streaming services if you’re interested. Check it out if you have the chance.
