A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (PG)
Released by Sony Pictures
Review by Adam Mast
The moving documentary, WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?, was my favorite film of 2018 so Marielle Heller‘s earnest, quiet, and gentle narrative, A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, certainly had a lot to live up to. Of course, when you have a national treasure like Tom Hanks playing national treasure, Fred Rogers, in your movie, it helps. It helps to the point that this film serves as a near perfect companion piece to Morgan Neville‘s heartfelt doc. In fact, A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD is so sweet and so utterly in tune with the genuine and compassionate nature of its central figure that it almost feels as if Mister Rogers himself came down from the Heavens above and co-directed it.
It should be noted that A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD is not a Mister Rogers biopic but rather a dramatization of real-life events revolving around Tom Junod (whose name has been changed to Lloyd Vogel in this film), a journalist who, during the 90s, was given the daunting task of interviewing Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) for an article in Esquire magazine. Reluctant to do the story for fear that it would be nothing more than a boring fluff piece, Vogel (Matthew Rhys) would ultimately take on the job at the demand of his stern but caring boss, Ellen (played by the great Christine Lahti–Seriously, this wonderful actress has been away from the big screen for far too long.) It isn’t long before this emotionally distant writer finds himself learning many a life lesson through the aid of the world’s most understanding and compassionate children’s show host.
Heller (who beautifully directed Melissa McCarthy to a Best Actress Oscar nomination in the outstanding CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?) helms the proceedings with a delicate hand and while the father/son story at the heart of this film has been done countless times, it’s so beautifully constructed and acted, that it’s near impossible to not be moved by it. We all know that from the moment Vogel and Rogers meet, the good mister will see right into this journalist’s lost soul and set out to help him through his special one-of-a-kind brand of love, kindness, and compassion. Rather than fighting the obvious, Heller–along with skilled screenwriters Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster— embrace it and allow the earnest subject matter to play out. And why not? Mister Rogers wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Further still, the recreations of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” and the fashion in which Heller uses wonderful models to aid in the telling of this story are simply sublime. This is to say nothing of the pitch perfect, if a tad surreal, dream sequences that open Vogel’s eyes to his own deep-rooted issues. A pure representation of how instrumental Rogers was in helping Vogel face his pain head on.
From a performance standpoint, Tom Hanks is one of moviedom’s all time great stars but in an odd way, he’s often taken for granted. He’s so consistently terrific so often (look no further than his stellar work in PHILADELPHIA, BIG, FORREST GUMP, APOLLO 13, CAST AWAY, and the TOY STORY films) that some of his other notable performances (see his tortured soul of a gangster in ROAD TO PERDITION, his understated pilot in SULLY, or his stoic hero in CAPTAIN PHILLIPS) tends to slip through the cracks. It would be easy for any actor to succumb to the pressures of playing someone as monumentally beloved as Fred Rogers, but Hanks is completely up to the challenge in a performance that ranks up there with the best of his career. He’s quiet, he’s patient, he’s warm, and he cuts straight to the heart with a compassionate glance. Even a moment of anger, conveyed in a brilliant display of restraint at the piano, is beautifully handled. Hanks’s ability to channel the spirit of Rogers is truly something to behold, and one has to believe that he’s a lock for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his exemplary work in this picture. In fact, his undeniable grasp of this role could be best summed up in a 60 second stretch of silence in the final act of this movie. A minute long stretch that makes for one of the best scenes in any movie all year long.
Rhys is terrific as a new father, ambitious writer, and somewhat distant husband who struggles to articulate feelings of the heart with his understanding wife, Andrea (a wonderful Susan Kelechi Watson) even though it’s abundantly clear that he loves her and their newborn with all his heart. Rhys’s scenes with Hanks are fantastic even when his resistant Vogel is shrugging off a sincere Rogers who earnestly attempts to reach the somewhat bitter journalist by way of giving him a brief but meaningful introduction to shy Daniel the tiger. That said, Rhys is most effective during his tear jerking, emotionally resonant moments with the great Chris Cooper who hits all the right notes as a grief and guilt-stricken father desperately trying to make up for lost time.
Without getting too personal, there’s quite a bit in this movie that I found myself relating to in a big way and that made it an even richer experience. True, A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD does deal with a primary character that might be construed as a bit cynical in nature, but there’s absolutely nothing at all cynical about the fashion in which this joyful, loving, and all together positive movie was made. It’s even playful enough to address an infamous urban legend that suggests Rogers had legendary ties to the military in his youth. In the end, this movie simply feels like the kind of spirited, well-intentioned motion picture experience that Mister Rogers would have approved of.
On a final note, AVENGERS: ENDGAME may have been the highest grossing film of 2019, but A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD is the most satisfying superhero movie of the year.
