A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood finds the perfect tone for which to tell the story of the friendship between children's show host Fred Rogers (perfectly played here by Tom Hanks) and a reporter named Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), who is initially assigned to do a "fluff piece" about the man, but soon finds deeper insights into him.  The film is simultaneously joyful, sad, heartbreaking, full of wonder, and whimsical.  This is a movie that understands the spirit of Mr. Rogers and everything he stood for, and fully embraces it, while also telling a satisfying narrative story.  This is a quiet and seemingly unassuming little film that can bowl you over with its emotional power.

Some people who watch this might be disappointed that this is not really a biofilm about Fred Rogers that goes in depth with the man, or his past.  For that, we have last year's wonderful documentary, Won't You Be My Neighbor?.  Rather than repeat the facts from that earlier film, what director Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) does is focus on Lloyd, a hardened cynic and jaded reporter who initially balks at the idea on having to do a story about Rogers for an issue of Esquire Magazine that's going to be about heroes.  Lloyd is not interested in writing about a "hokey guy" like Fred, and when he meets the man on the set of the show, he is surprised to see that he is no different in real life than the persona he gives on his program.  When Lloyd describes Mr. Rogers as a character on a show, Fred seems genuinely confused.  What people see on the program is him, not a character.  Lloyd is not sure what to think.  Is it some kind of elaborate act?  To the reporter, Fred seems to live in his own world.  And it's a world that Lloyd slowly feels drawn into the more time he spends with him.

One of the wonderful things the film does is that it recreates Rogers' show, and uses it as an introduction to the story.  The opening moments faithfully recreate the program's iconic opening, with Hanks singing the title tune as he takes off his street shoes, slips on his sneakers and cardigan sweater, and perfectly sets the audience at ease.  It's a big gamble trying to recreate the opening to such an iconic children's program.  Go a step too far, and you veer into parody.  But Hanks is perfectly disarming and earns our trust the second he walks through that door onto the perfectly realized set that recreates the low budget coziness the program had in spades.  Hanks is not just imitating Rogers, but has mastered his soothing soul.  Likewise, the movie itself recreates the mood of the show perfectly, allowing Fred to be a narrator of sorts as he introduces us to his friend Lloyd, and takes us into the movie proper.

Even when we are taken into the film's main narrative, the movie never loses that sense of whimsy, as all exterior shots are created with toys and models, just like the outside shots on the show.  Less you think this will be a hokey film wrapped in nostalgia, your fears will disappear when Lloyd's story begins to unfold.  Inspired by a real-life journalist named Tom Junod, who famously covered Rogers back in 1998 in an article titled "Can You Say...Hero?", we follow the events that led up to his fateful meeting with Rogers.  As depicted in the film, Lloyd is a workaholic with a supportive wife (Susan Kelechi Watson from TV's This is Us) and an infant son who is forced to face the demons of his past when, while attending his sister's wedding, he is forced to come face to face with his alcoholic father (Chris Cooper) that he walked away from years ago.  He never forgave his dad for cheating on his mom and not being there when she was dying of cancer.  A fistfight ensues, and when Lloyd shows up to interview Mr. Rogers, he has a scar on his nose from the fight.

Rogers immediately notices the scar, and Lloyd tries to pass it off as an injury from playing baseball.  Fred sees through this, and is eventually able to get the reporter to open up to him over the time they spend together.  The film follows the various meetings between the two men, and how Lloyd learns to move beyond his past.  A big part of the film's power is not just the healing journey that Lloyd goes through, but the performances of both Hanks and Rhys.  There are a lot of moments of quiet power between them that are never overstated, and always capture the healing and calming effect that the real life Rogers had on children and people.  The movie even uses some of the man's actual teachings, such as when he suggests they have a minute of silence together to think on all the people in their lives, and there is literally a minute of silence in the film. (Even the extras and the background actors cooperate.) The way that Rogers gently questions the reporter about his family and his pain is what makes Hanks' portrayal more than just an imitation.  He is embodying everything the man stood for in life.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a complex film, because it completely believes in its subject matter.  It's not just a story of healing, but a celebration of everything the man believed in.  The recreation of the TV segments is not just nostalgia, but the movie finds some clever ways to incorporate it into the narrative itself, and make it part of Lloyd's emotional journey.  I won't spoil how, but it really has to be seen to be believed, as it's a moment that captures childhood whimsy and a kind of psychological nightmare.  I know it's hard to picture, but like I said, I don't want to spoil it.  This is a movie that uses the teachings and techniques of a children's show to tell a very adult story, and what makes it work is how brilliantly the film mixes these two elements together.  It's as emotionally shattering as any drama can be, but it also understands Rogers' technique of understatement and caring. 

Rather than an expected biofilm, we have a story that recreates the message that Fred Rogers wanted to impart on both children and adults.  Honestly, this is the smartest move the filmmakers could have done.  In a way, this is a more difficult and challenging approach, rather than just taking the standard "filmed Wikipedia" approach.  This is a movie that is unexpected in many ways, and absolutely wonderful in even more ways.

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