A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

[Eric Atreides]

Hello neighbor. Discuss away!

[filmlover]

A loving and delightful tribute to Mr. Rogers. Less of a biopic and more of a tale about how his words and wisdom repairs the life of a reporter covering him for a puff piece, it would be easy for the most cynical moviegoer to pick this apart, but wisely, director Marielle Heller keeps things from becoming mawkish and the recreations of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood are perfectly nostalgic. While he's more of a supporting character (the main reporter is played in a very solid performance by Matthew Rhys), the main reason most people are likely to see it is Tom Hanks. While we're always aware we're seeing Hanks and not the real Fred Rogers, he captures what made the man so special as well as he did Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks. You couldn't really ask for a better actor to play this type of role, and the movie can sag a bit when he's not on screen. But what really makes the movie soar, however, is the spirit of Rogers. At a time when there is so much awfulness in the world, it's nice to see a movie that serves as a reminder of someone who was truly inspiring. B+

Edited November 24, 2019 by filmlover

[Jonwo]

Even though I wasn't familiar with Mr Rogers, Tom Hanks embodies the role, I quite liked how they used the TV show as a setup for the film although it did get a bit weird in one sequence with Lloyd but overall it's a solid, lovely film. 

[Webslinger]

Far less a standard biopic than a creative study of a beloved celebrity’s impact in microcosm, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a highly moving and endearing film that nails the warmth and empathy of the subject it studies. The filmmakers had their work cut out for them in making a film about Fred Rogers after the resounding success of last year’s comprehensive documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (and, indeed, many viewers who have seen that film will recognize some of the information conveyed here), but they rise to the challenge with a quietly powerful product that uses a journalist’s struggle to mend his relationship with his father as a means of examining Rogers’s public reach and his private challenges. Under the direction of Marielle Heller – who already proved her adeptness in capturing nuanced emotions from her actors in last year’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? – virtually every scene has a clear emotional purpose, and Heller frames each scene in such an intimate, unhurried manner that characters arrive at their emotional beats in genuine, affecting ways. The decision to structure the film as an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for adults is also a clever one that feels natural for the material rather than gimmicky. As the journalist who profiles Rogers, Matthew Rhys does moving work. Rhys approaches the part with such vulnerability that he’s a relatable audience surrogate even in his moments of frustration. Chris Cooper is also terrific as Rhys’s father, capturing both the unsavory qualities that drive a wedge between the two men and the guarded tenderness that ultimately allows viewers to root for their reconciliation. But the cast standout, unsurprisingly, is Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers. The casting profiles as a “duh” based on Hanks’s reputation, but he doesn’t just coast on affability; rather, Hanks digs down deep and portrays Rogers as a gentle but complicated man whose concern for others runs deep and whose hidden pain shapes his call to be empathetic to others. Though Hanks bears little physical resemblance to the svelte Rogers, he channels Rogers’s mannerisms and worldview so deeply that he still feels like he embodies the spirit of the man from start to finish. Much like the programs whose style it emulates and the 2018 documentary it follows, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a warm, big-hearted film with such quiet but disarming power that it’s bound to leave many viewers emerging from the auditorium with a smile and a wet face from a few tears shed.

 

A-