There’s a certain sense of tenable awe one feels when they think about the legacy of Mister Rogers. Regardless whether or not you watched his program as a child, the Mister Rogers persona has become synonymous with generosity, kindness and goodwill. He was a genuine, down-to-earth person, and his program was overtly simple yet poignant and touching. His legacy, and a touching example of his unwavering hospitality, has found its way into the hands of one of the most touching directors in the business today, Marielle Heller.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is the latest work from director Heller (who previously directed last year’s overlooked and underappreciated film Can You Ever Forgive Me?, as well as 2015’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and stars America’s real-life dad Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers. The story follows reporter Lloyd Vogel (played by Matthew Rhys and based on real-life reporter Tom Junod), assigned to profile Mister Rogers for a “real American heroes” segment in Esquire magazine. Lloyd is dealing, poorly, with a multitude of personal issues. He and his father are estranged, and this separation has trickled down to Lloyd’s lack of intimate connection with his own newborn son, Gavin. Meanwhile, Lloyd has developed a reputation for being a hard-assed reporter, searching for the worst in the people he’s interviewing.
While the film takes its time approaching the first interaction between Mister Rogers and Lloyd, the conversations they have throughout the film are some of the best conversations I’ve seen all year. Heller’s masterful ability to make a simple conversation mesmeric is remarkable. Her use of shot reverse shot, the most simplistic technique in filmmaking, is perfect. It holds on the relevant character for the exact right length of time, is never distracting with too many edits, and lets us really see into the minds of these characters. These exchanges between Lloyd and Mister Rogers are done mostly in close-up; there’s very little excess in the shot to distract you from the characters, what they are saying, and how they are saying it. Lloyd is troubled and cynical, while Fred Rogers is heartfelt, loving and, most of all, genuinely concerned by Lloyd’s demeanor. Mister Rogers takes over these exchanges as they progress, and Heller’s cinematographer, Jody Lee Lipes, communicates this transformation with a subtle change of the camera angle halfway through the scene. These exchanges between Lloyd and Mister Rogers are some of the best scenes I’ve seen in any film all year.
There is a scene between Mister Rogers and Lloyd that occurs in a diner in Pittsburgh, shortly after Lloyd experiences some particularly traumatic events. In this scene, Mister Rogers asks Lloyd to sit back and think about all the people that love him for an entire minute. We proceed to sit in silence with these characters for that entire minute, while the camera slowly and deliberately pans around Mister Rogers until he is looking directly into it and thus at us, the audience. This therapeutic minute was emotional and cathartic, a courageous inclusion by Marielle Heller in an age where most big-budget films are terrified to have even a second of silence in their movie. There were audible sniffles throughout the theater as we shared in this incredibly touching and minimalist moment.
While the minimalism is where this film excels, its gaudy moments are where it does not. There is one moment in particular—a disorienting dream sequence Lloyd experiences when he flees his problems for Pittsburgh—that felt shockingly out of place. It was a glitzy, flamboyant moment that didn’t really fit into the overall narrative.
Likely my biggest complaint about the film is in the performance of Matthew Rhys as Lloyd. It was a showman performance reserved for a play. However, it was more than made up for by Tom Hanks. It’s been a few years since I was truly blown away by a Tom Hanks performance (I’d say Captain Phillips was the last one) but his casting as the iconic Fred Rogers was perfect. It was soothing to hear the calming voice he donned to play the icon.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a masterwork from a director at the height of her game. It’s very quiet, slow, and deliberate, but that feeling also embodies the show Mister Rogers created. This film’s formula is the very essence of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, right down to Heller’s decision to bookend this film with an episode of the show itself. While it may not be for those looking for an exciting thrill ride at the movies right now (you can reserve that for something like Ford V Ferrari), this film is exceptionally rewarding and possibly even curing for viewer’s own personal problems. Even now, 16 years after his death, Mister Rogers is still helping to make us feel loved—just the way we are.
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