Directed by: Marielle Heller
Written by: Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster
Cast: Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson
Swift shot: My mom didn’t like me watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood as a kid. She thought he was creepy and a phony. This film dispels both of those assumptions. Turns out, Fred Rogers was the authentic, kind person that I always hoped he was.
Also, it’s pretty funny that I used to defy my mom by watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood any chance I could get. Like, seriously, my friends were watching Friday the 13th, and I was sneaking in episodes of Mister Rogers! I am such a bad ass.
Tom Hanks was initially reluctant to play another historical character, I mean, he’s played quite a few lately, so I can’t blame him. But, honestly, this movie would never have been made without him. I can’t imagine anyone else doing such a tremendous job as the immortal Fred Rogers. Can you?
Also, it turns out that Tom Hanks is a sixth-cousin of Fred Rogers, which makes a lot of sense.
Starting out as a typical episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the movie introduces us to Fred as he walks in singing and changing his shoes. I must admit, I actually laughed a bit at how cornball it was.
But I am such a huge fan of Hanks as an actor, and human, that I stifled my cynicism for a bit and found myself magically transported back in time to a place in my heart that is reserved for nostalgia and wonder. And once I realized this wasn’t some bizarre two-hour long SNL skit, I was able to really appreciate the brilliance before me.
Right after the changing of his shoes, Fred introduces us to Lloyd Vogel (Rhys) through his picture box thing. He tells us this story will be all about forgiveness and how difficult it can be. And it was perfect timing, as it shifts the movie from a biopic about Mister Rogers to a story about a cynic. In fact, that cynic is a reflection of us, the audience and the current state of the world.
The year is 1998, and Lloyd is in New York receiving a writer’s award. Every time there is traveling in the movie, they show us the miniatures going from city to city by the various forms of transportation and the significant landmarks. It’s just like they used to do on the show, actually.
And, sadly, but earnestly, the New York skyline is highlighted by two mighty towers that no longer stand.
Credit to Director Heller for finding the original Ikegami HK-323 cameras to shoot all of the TV episode scenes, as the audience certainly noticed the nostalgic nuance and it was appreciated by many in the audience, as they murmured their approval.
Almost immediately after we meet Lloyd, we understand he has issues with his estranged father, Jerry (Cooper) who gets in a fight with Lloyd at a wedding. Lloyd gets himself a souvenir from that donnybrook, as his face is scarred up in a place that is hard to conceal.
Thanks to this kerfuffle, his Chief Editor decides to reign him in a bit, and she assigns him a 400 word blurb about a hero. Enter, Fred Rogers.
Naturally, this hard-edged award-winning magazine writer wants no part of this fluff piece and tells her no. But, as he and his wife, Andrea (Watson) have just had a baby, he swallows his pride and does the grunt work.
But, once he reaches out to Fred Rogers, his life will never be the same again.
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to interview someone famous, you know that before the interview, there is no access to the subject. You do all the prep work through their publicist or agent. But, once Lloyd sets up the groundwork for the interview, something inexplicable happens, Fred calls him back to speak to him.
Right away, Lloyd is puzzled that this character wants to speak to him before the interview. But, he’s a professional, so he engages in what he thinks will be the first act in his hard-edged gotcha story on America’s favorite cardigan-clad neighbor.
Best line in the movie is when Lloyd’s wife begs him not to ruin her childhood by smearing Mister Rogers.
Once he heads to the WQED studios in Pittsburgh, we get to see the meticulous reconstruction of the original Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood set. They built it completely from scratch over 12 weeks, and they not only had to put attention to detail into the front-facing set pieces but the behind the scenes was also made to look as authentic as possible.
As his assignment goes on, Lloyd keeps working under the assumption that he is the interviewer, but as the story progresses, it begins to dawn on him that Fred Rogers is actually conducting his own little interview of Lloyd Vogel.
If you aren’t a fan of Mister Rogers, there is still a terrific story in this movie, because it is ultimately not a story about Fred, it’s a story about how Fred impacted one family through his earnest empathy and his ability to connect with and listen to anyone.
As Lloyd does his thing, he meets all the different people around Fred and sees on day one that Fred is 100% real. As the TV crew patiently waits for their boss to begin the shoot following an interaction that lasts for over an hour with a Make-A-Wish child.
Nobody is putting on a show for Lloyd, he’s getting the real deal with everyone. No one has been coached to show him something that isn’t there, and in fact, it’s Fred’s handler, Bill (Enrico Colantoni) who basically says that Fred only agreed to do the interview because he likes people like Lloyd – broken people.
This, of course, intrigues Lloyd, who is now a first-time father at an advanced age, and he is not sure what he is doing with his life. He constantly punishes his estranged father who just wants to explain to his son why he was such a crappy dad.
But, if that was all this movie was about, it would be pretty dull and one-sided. As Fred Rogers is not a saint, he doesn’t believe in deifying anyone really. He has his flaws, and Tom Hanks has one scene where he lets that humanity eke through, ever so subtly, as Lloyd’s cynicism goes a bit too far.
That was my favorite scene of the film. It’s a scene that demands a balance of anger, fear, and compassion that few Hollywood actors possess. And even Tom Hanks struggled to get it just right.
While the ending is coming at you like a trolley on a predictable track, the emotion isn’t sucked out of the payoff. It’s not an easy thing to accomplish as a filmmaker, where the audience can pretty much predict what is going to happen at the end, but how the story is told is what makes it such a fine film.
This is an exceptional film because of that intangible art.
This is a story about redemption, forgiveness, acceptance, and at its root, love. If you need a reminder that these things do exist in our world, you should see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. I think it would make Fred smile.
