Despite being a huge presence in the childhoods of our friends over the pond, Fred Rogers will be a name that most UK audiences will be unfamiliar with; in fact, unless you stumbled upon last year's critically-acclaimed documentary, Won't You Be My Neighbor?, this will be many people's first visit to his neighbourhood. Is it a beautiful one?
Journalist Lloyd Vogel is assigned to write a piece about beloved children television icon Fred Rogers during a particularly difficult moment in his life. Armed with his usual cynicism, Vogel is determined to expose Mister Rogers' nice persona as an act, but quickly realises that children may not be the only people that Rogers can help. Marielle Heller directs this adaptation of Tom Junod's article, 'Can You Say... Hero?', which stars Matthew Rhys alongside Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers.
If you fear your distance from the central Mister Rogers may hinder your enjoyment or appreciation of A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood, I can assure you, it doesn't - in fact, if anything, it provides the film with an additional layer of discovery. So very brilliantly, this is not your typical biographical feature, instead using Rogers as more of a supporting character whose moral compass is used to drive our troubled protagonist to a better place in his life.
Written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood's script has to be one of the most inspired adapted screenplays for quite some time. A melancholic but affecting exploration of the value of our feelings and benefit of expressing our emotions, it is a quietly reflective and profound piece of writing that oozes sincerity at every turn. Rarely traversed thematic ground - feelings and vulnerability in men - empower this film to lofty heights, with the emotionally intelligent writing capturing so much that has been mostly ignored by the medium to date.
Marielle Heller once again proves that she is one of the several exciting directors working today, following her terrific debut (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and tremendous sophomore effort (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) with a wonderful trip to the Neighbourhood. Creative in her direction and staggering in her ability to mine every line of dialogue for maximum emotional impact, Heller imbues a whimsical quality into her work, enriched ten-fold by Nate Heller's magnificent twinkling score, which allows it to play out like a contemporary fairytale of sorts. While there's no doubt sentiment to the feature, that Heller can avoid it from becoming schmaltzy or overbearing speaks incredibly highly of her unique ability to bring such authenticity to her projects, circumventing the seemingly endless numbers of pitfalls this film could have been curbed by.
Tom Hanks is truly sublime as Rogers, his endearing magnetism as an actor the perfect match for Mister Rogers. So skilfully measured, Hanks prevents the role from veering into melodramatic soppiness or inadvertent creepiness, exploring the depths of one of American television's most beloved figures. Fourth wall-breaking has never been used quite so well as during one emotionally-flooring moment that shows Mister Rogers' greatest mission in life in its clearest form: to connect with each audience member, individually, through the power of television - and Hanks sells it so stunningly it will bring a tear to your eye. Similarly, Matthew Rhys is strong, with his more internalised performance a thing of remarkable complexity that carefully unravels to reveal something extremely soulful and moving by the end.
So very easily, the A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood filmmakers could have churned out a more traditional and conventional biopic, one that did what it needed to do and little else. But with the writers so skilful and performers so talented, helmed by an ingenious director whose brilliance cannot be understated, they realise that the magic of Fred Rogers was not his own life but more the people he connected with, made possible by the loving and compassionate world he built on his television show that considered darker ideas in the safest environment imaginable. Ergo, it makes complete and utter sense for his story be told through that of another, demonstrating how Rogers words and attitudes reached out to people individually, and he in return. Yes, we focus on one person here, but the universal lessons on the importance of emotional vulnerability and expression are something we all need to hear. We spend just 109 minutes in this neighbourhood, but what a beautiful, profound and powerful time it is.
Summary: A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood sure is that, a beautifully profound and quietly reflective film about the power of emotional vulnerability, succeeding on the back of Marielle Heller's creative direction and Tom Hanks' wonderful performance.
Journalist Lloyd Vogel is assigned to write a piece about beloved children television icon Fred Rogers during a particularly difficult moment in his life. Armed with his usual cynicism, Vogel is determined to expose Mister Rogers' nice persona as an act, but quickly realises that children may not be the only people that Rogers can help. Marielle Heller directs this adaptation of Tom Junod's article, 'Can You Say... Hero?', which stars Matthew Rhys alongside Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers.
If you fear your distance from the central Mister Rogers may hinder your enjoyment or appreciation of A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood, I can assure you, it doesn't - in fact, if anything, it provides the film with an additional layer of discovery. So very brilliantly, this is not your typical biographical feature, instead using Rogers as more of a supporting character whose moral compass is used to drive our troubled protagonist to a better place in his life.
Written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood's script has to be one of the most inspired adapted screenplays for quite some time. A melancholic but affecting exploration of the value of our feelings and benefit of expressing our emotions, it is a quietly reflective and profound piece of writing that oozes sincerity at every turn. Rarely traversed thematic ground - feelings and vulnerability in men - empower this film to lofty heights, with the emotionally intelligent writing capturing so much that has been mostly ignored by the medium to date.
Marielle Heller once again proves that she is one of the several exciting directors working today, following her terrific debut (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and tremendous sophomore effort (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) with a wonderful trip to the Neighbourhood. Creative in her direction and staggering in her ability to mine every line of dialogue for maximum emotional impact, Heller imbues a whimsical quality into her work, enriched ten-fold by Nate Heller's magnificent twinkling score, which allows it to play out like a contemporary fairytale of sorts. While there's no doubt sentiment to the feature, that Heller can avoid it from becoming schmaltzy or overbearing speaks incredibly highly of her unique ability to bring such authenticity to her projects, circumventing the seemingly endless numbers of pitfalls this film could have been curbed by.
Tom Hanks is truly sublime as Rogers, his endearing magnetism as an actor the perfect match for Mister Rogers. So skilfully measured, Hanks prevents the role from veering into melodramatic soppiness or inadvertent creepiness, exploring the depths of one of American television's most beloved figures. Fourth wall-breaking has never been used quite so well as during one emotionally-flooring moment that shows Mister Rogers' greatest mission in life in its clearest form: to connect with each audience member, individually, through the power of television - and Hanks sells it so stunningly it will bring a tear to your eye. Similarly, Matthew Rhys is strong, with his more internalised performance a thing of remarkable complexity that carefully unravels to reveal something extremely soulful and moving by the end.
So very easily, the A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood filmmakers could have churned out a more traditional and conventional biopic, one that did what it needed to do and little else. But with the writers so skilful and performers so talented, helmed by an ingenious director whose brilliance cannot be understated, they realise that the magic of Fred Rogers was not his own life but more the people he connected with, made possible by the loving and compassionate world he built on his television show that considered darker ideas in the safest environment imaginable. Ergo, it makes complete and utter sense for his story be told through that of another, demonstrating how Rogers words and attitudes reached out to people individually, and he in return. Yes, we focus on one person here, but the universal lessons on the importance of emotional vulnerability and expression are something we all need to hear. We spend just 109 minutes in this neighbourhood, but what a beautiful, profound and powerful time it is.
Summary: A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood sure is that, a beautifully profound and quietly reflective film about the power of emotional vulnerability, succeeding on the back of Marielle Heller's creative direction and Tom Hanks' wonderful performance.