Film Review: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Sexuality/Nudity Acceptable
Violence Acceptable
Vulgarity Acceptable
Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable


"It's not really about Mr. Rogers."

This is a statement about a magazine article that is made towards the end of the new film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.  But this statement could be made about the movie itself.

The film focuses on Llyod Vogel, a cynical magazine reporter and new father.  He has a bad history with his estranged father Jerry (Chris Cooper) and this adds to the strain on his marriage to Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson).  So Llyod throws himself into his work.  He is an incisive journalist, but no one wants to be interviewed by him because of the way he eviscerates his subjects.  The only one who is willing to open up to him is Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks), the host of the famous PBS children's show Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.  At first Lloyd is disappointed by this seemingly empty assignment.  He dismisses Rogers as a simple-minded charlatan.  What takes him by surprise is that Fred is not interested in simply being interviewed.  Rogers wants to get to know his interviewer and Lloyd finds himself being interviewed as deeply by his subject.  Lloyd decides to devote himself to uncovering the "real" Mr. Rogers.  As he does, what he finds is a mirror pointing back to his own life and how Mr. Rogers' life begins to affect his.

The biggest flaw in the film is that it isn't really a Mr. Rogers movie.  Mr. Rogers is a supporting character in his own movie.  The movie is thoroughly and exploration of Lloyd's journey and Rogers world acts as the thematic glue that holds it together.  That is not necessarily a bad idea for a film, but it feels like such a wasted opportunity.  Director Mariell Heller gets a great performance from Hanks, but the gimmicky use of the style of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, feels less and less fresh as the movie goes on.  

This is especially the case because Hanks shines as Fred Rogers.  He doesn't necessarily do an impersonation of him, but he captures his gentleness and kindness.  He presents him as innocent by not naive.  At one point, Fred describes something about himself on the show.  Lloyd says, "But that's 'Mr. Rogers,' I want to know about the real you."  Fred looks back an him dumbfounded and says, "I don't understand the question."  Fred is that rare person of true integrity, who does not wear different masks for different social situations.  He is the same person to whomever he meets.  

In one of Hanks' best moments, the camera holds on his still face for a solid minute.  It is such an unusual thing to do in a movie and it only works because Hanks projects Rogers moral authority and invites to participate in this moment of meditation as members of the audience.  

The best thing that the movie does is that highlights the basic Christian decency of a man like Fred Rogers.  I've read a lot of people who hold him up as the ultimate social good of benigning niceness.  I've read others who reject this as empty sentiment that ignores the harder Christian virtues.  I think both points of view miss the point.  Fred Rogers is not Jesus.  But he is the most Christ-like Fred Rogers he can be.  He always strives for gentleness and soft compassion because that is his vocation.  There are times to be harsh as Christ was sometimes harsh.  But Fred knew that this was not his particular vocation.  He needed to fill the void of emotional fulfillment that is lacking for many children.  This catharsis is not the end-all-be-all of the Christian message and I don't think that is what Rogers is trying to say at all.  But he knew his apostolate and he did it.  I was impressed that the movie did try to overlook Rogers Christianity.  It was an essential part of understanding his goodness.


Above all, the movie is about forgiveness.  Lloyd cannot seem to forgive his father for abandoning his family, especially when his mother became fatally ill.  Jerry does not deserve forgiveness and Lloyd wants no contact with him at all.  But slowly he comes to the realization through Fred Rogers that withholding forgiveness only makes you more resentful and bitter.  Without a forgiving heart, the heart grows cold and hard.  And whether you want it to or not, that lack of forgiveness will affect the other people in your life, as Lloyd begins to feel the strain in his relationship with Andrea and his infant son.  The same is true of all of us if we do not forgive the people in our lives who hurt us.

All of this is something I would have loved to have been explored in more detail.  Instead, the focus is on Lloyd.  Rhys is good in his role, as are Watson and Cooper.  But the film wants us to revel in Lloyd's journey, but instead it feels like it is treading water until Hanks comes back on screen.

If you ever loved Mr. Rogers, this movie will rekindle those affections.  It will make you want to spend more time with the man.  At least, it will make you want to have more time with him than A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood gives you.