A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

A heart-warming and beautifully crafted piece of art with a message of kindness that truly speaks to today’s audience.

As a kid I vaguely remember watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Going into this film, I experienced several flashbacks to my own childhood with Mister Rogers and his unique and warm personality.

The movie takes you on a journey of emotions and lessons to be learned. Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was a television show aimed primarily at preschool infants (ages 2-5) teaching them serious topics concerning emotional and physical concerns, such as death, anger, violence, and divorce. The film highlights those same lessons but, in this instance, its audience becomes both the main character, Lloyd Vogel, and us.

Plot

The story is based on an article that was published by Esquire magazine in 1998. The article was written by Tom Junod who is portrayed in the film by Matthew Rhys as Lloyd Vogel.

Vogel is a successful and cynical journalist who is assigned to write a 400-word article on Fred Rogers played by Tom Hanks. Vogel sets out with the hope of negatively exposing Mister Rogers but instead learns a life-changing lesson.

The story is set up as an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in which Vogel, and the viewer, are taught the lesson of forgiveness and love.

Characters

Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers is both charming and captivating. Hanks successfully personifies the personality, mannerism and warmth of Mister Rogers. His performance is incredibly fascinating and unforgettable. Hanks is without a doubt one of the best actors of our time.

A number of Hanks’ lines stuck with me after finishing the film. Such as, ‘A child must be accepted for who they are before they can grow’ and ‘Anything that is mentionable is manageable.’

Matthew Rhys also delivers an incredible grounded performance by portraying a full fleshed out character battling different emotions pertaining to fatherhood.

The rest of the cast is also very compelling and highlight the impact which the real Fred Rogers had on the lives he touched.

Directing

Marielle Heller does an incredible job directing much like in her previous work with Can You Ever Forgive Me?which she both wrote and directed. Heller delivers the story as a long episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in which both Vogel and the viewer learn the valuable lessons taught by Mister Rogers. It’s a style of filmmaking that deserves recognition and praise for its unique and engaging form of storytelling. The diner scene will leave you in tears with much to ponder on.

Score

The film includes a lot of the music used in the old Mister Rogers’ television show leaving a deep feeling of nostalgia and a necessity to hum the tune to ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor’ for hours on end.

Awards

Tom Hanks was nominated for Best supporting Actor but sadly lost to Brad Pitt. Even more disappointing is Director Marielle Heller who joined the list of snubbed female directors with no nominations in any major awards ceremony.

Overall this movie is incredibly moving and touching, definitely worth spending a nice Sunday afternoon with Mister Rogers in