A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Starring: Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Enrico Colantoni

Director: Marielle Heller

Investigative journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) has been assigned to write a profile on beloved TV personality Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks). Believing Rogers show to be a "hokey kids program" he views the story as a puff piece and punishment for his more hard hitting stories that don't paint the subjects in a positive light. As he sets out to ask the questions that will break the mythos of the beloved TV personality, he soon discovers the magic of Mr. Rogers and begins to examine things in his own life, such as the fractured relationship with his father (Chris Cooper) as well as his faults in his marriage to Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson).

This is an utterly delightful film that I honestly feel the real Fred Rogers would have adored. The man was a treasure and kindness incarnate and the film practices what he preached. I grew up watching Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, always in awe that Mr. Rogers always seemed to know what I was feeling. I spent 70% of the runtime of last years fantastic doc Won't You Be My Neighbor? in tears. It'd be disingenuous to say the man didn't have an impact on my life.

As distracting as it could have been having a star like Hanks in the role, he transforms into Rogers completely, embodying the spirit of what made him so beloved. This is the best Hanks has been in quite some time and at times I forgot I was watching an actor portray Fred Rogers. Yes, they don't really look alike, but Fred Rogers' warmth and almost unrealistic kindness shines through in every scene Hanks is in. Having not watched The Americans, I was unfamiliar with Matthew Rhys, but he is spectacular in the film. His continued exasperation and awe of Fred Rogers is well done and well intentioned. His character's growth felt very genuine, which could have easily become cheesy or saccharine in another actor's hands.

Director Marielle Heller effortlessly brings to screen the story of a man whose life is profoundly changed by Fred Rogers. After bursting onto the scene in 2015 with the brutal and honest The Diary of a Teenage Girl, She returned last year with criminally underrated Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which was anchored by two Oscar nominated performances. Here she continues to show why she is a director on the rise, helping usher to the screen fantastic performances while not making an overly sentimental movie that still tugs at your heart strings. She also gets to show off some unique and fun storytelling devices, with many of Lloyd's scenes being accompanied by transitions using miniatures like on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. She also wisely keeps Fred Rogers as a secondary character, coming in and out of Lloyd's life as he himself continues to grow.

I also have to applaud the movie for a scene about halfway through that employs an actual minute of reflective silence. It is meant for Lloyd's character but it is filmed to look like Hank's Rogers is asking the audience to use this moment as well. The scene also features many familiar faces that popped up in Won't You Be My Neighbor? that adds to the power of the scene. I hope the scene works for you as well as it did for me, using that time to reflect myself.

It is hard to not be taken by a film this genuine, which extends from the acting to the message the film leaves you with. Between this and JoJo Rabbit, there are quite a few feel good films in theaters to help audiences escape the negativity that plague our very real world. Have your tissues ready, your eyes will thank you afterwards.