A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood

Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, inspired by the 1998 article "Can You Say ... Hero?" by Tom Junod, published in Esquire.

After a jaded magazine writer Lloyd Vogel (Emmy winner Matthew Rhys) is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about empathy, kindness, and decency from America's most beloved neighbor.

A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood (PG) is in cinemas now

Rating: PG (for some strong thematic material, a brief fight, and some mild language)
Genre: Drama
Directed By: Marielle Heller
Written By: Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster
Runtime: 108 minutes
Studio: TriStar Pictures

Stars

Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers
Matthew Rhys as Lloyd
Susan Kelechi Watson as Andrea
Chris Cooper as Jerry Vogel
Maryann Plunkett as Joanne
Enrico Colantoni as Bill Isler

Film Review

DM Bradley - adelaidereview.com.au

Rating: Melbourne

This gorgeously moving character drama from director Marielle Heller features an expertly observed performance by Tom Hanks as US children's television icon Fred Rogers.

Like Heller's previous pic, the more darkly funny Can You Ever Forgive Me?, this is drawn from fact and, like most biopics, quite a lot has been altered and composited, and yet it comes with the blessing of Junod and the estate of the late lamented Fred Rogers.

From a decade-old script by co-writers and co-producers Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue, based on Tom Junod's original Esquire article Can You Say... Hero?, it also demonstrates Heller's interest in characters in crisis and transition, and her ability to underplay scenes of powerful emotion with perfect subtlety.

Ah, Fred Rogers (1928 - 2003). A towering figure in American television and popular culture due to his incarnations of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the self-effacing fellow was on TV for decades and famous enough to be gently mocked on The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live, while clips of the show are all over YouTube and Morgan Neville's excellent 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?. And yet, he's not exactly well-known outside the US.

As if to emphasise the fictional aspects of the tale, we open with an uncanny, sub-magical copy of the opening sequence of Neighborhood with Hanks cleverly mimicking the movements and the distinctive spoken-singing of the theme tune, while the image itself is given an old-school-smallscreen makeover. Serving as a kind of gentle Greek Chorus, Rogers introduces Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys as a stand-in for Junod), and we're then introduced to the messy man himself back in 1998, a cynical guy who's meant to be an investigative journalist, but struggles to get interviews due to his always nasty pieces.

Married to public attorney Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson) and having recently become a Dad to baby Gavin, Lloyd dreads being a parent and is obviously consumed with anger and hurt about his past. When he attends his sister's wedding (the latest of several, apparently) and confronts his long-alienated Dad Jerry (Chris Cooper), it ends in disaster.

Lloyd is then assigned by editor Ellen (Christine Lahti) to interview Rogers and, after a period of snarky objecting, immediately sets about trying to find some dirt or a cruel angle on the guy, and yet the unflappable Rogers turns the tables and virtually begins to interview Lloyd, much to his annoyance. A 20-minute throwaway chat then becomes something longer and much more complex, especially when Lloyd uses the chance to write as an excuse not to face Gerry and as Rogers keeps quietly suggesting that our troubled hero deal with his feelings.

There's an awful lot of pain here, and yet director Heller's restraint keeps key scenes from becoming gruesomely sentimental, and while 'American Living Treasure' Tom has naturally received all the publicity, Rhys and Cooper are also very fine as seriously flawed people.

And while we're here, it's also worth asking: is there a figure in Australian television who could possibly compare to Mr. Rogers? Someone as unfailingly kind, patient, understanding and gosh-darn nice? Well... no. Sorry.

Ah well, as dear old Fred himself would have said, "Let's make the most of this beautiful day anyway."

22 January 2020 by DM Bradley
REVIEWER RATING 8/10
adelaidereview.com.au