As per usual, Tom Hanks is the best part of whatever he's involved with. Marielle Heller's new film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood chronicling the impact of the iconic Mister Rogers is... fine, I suppose. There are a lot of things that this film does very well and a lot of things that it quite honestly fails to live up to. I had not heard much about this film, so I was definitely expecting it to be a Fred Rogers biopic and showcase of Hanks' tender talent but was completely blindsided once I realized he was the supporting role. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, as the story revolving around these characters is perfectly functional as a feel-good film by itself. While Hanks is the obvious standout, I did find the means of storytelling to be a bit strange. Heller is an incredible and heartwarming director but there were some tonal shifts and creative choices made that took me way out of the story. Despite some of these minor issues, this film does its job regardless and will be an obvious contender in February with Hanks leading the charge.
Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is a recently new father and journalist who is known as being quite a sadistic and pessimistic writer. His publication assigns him to do an exposé on Mister Rogers (Tom Hanks), the legendary children's show host from the 1960s. While he is initially opposed to interviewing such a nice person, Lloyd eventually learns the many pure and accepting values that Rogers had taught to his audiences decades before. Even though this film lends itself to being very heartwarming and ultimately predictable, I feel like a story about Mister Rogers can only truly operate if it's set within a larger narrative. Morgan Neville's documentary from last year Won't You Be My Neighbor? was such a beautiful case study of Mister Rogers but its main focus was not the life of Rogers himself, but rather his positive impact upon the world. Being one of the most wholesome and accepting human beings to ever live is a difficult reputation to live up to and I feel like if the audience were to learn about Rogers' life they would not be as interested. Evidenced by the documentary and this newest film, Fred Rogers does not seem like an interesting enough person to solely focus on his life. This is why I think a complete biopic was what Heller was trying to avoid and rather focus on his legacy. It was surely an interesting choice to practically sideline Tom Hanks in favor of telling the main story that this film was adapted from but it all honestly worked out for the better. Following Lloyd's story was a better way of going about telling this true story but my only issue is that the plot was a bit of a bore. Lloyd's development as he learns what it means to be kind and realizes he needs to change to be a good father was so bland and cliché. The only aspect making this film stand out was the presence of Rogers serving as an inspiration.
There are some incredible creative choices made throughout this film and some that did not sit well with me at all. All of them have to do with Heller's direction and while I think she's a great filmmaker on her own, this film, in particular, had some combative tones. The use of the dream sequence and the slight breaking of the fourth wall left me feeling uncomfortable in the theater and I do not think that they fit this film for what it was trying to go for. This entire movie has a constant melancholy to it and while it fits as the overall tone of Lloyd's story, the dream sequence that he went through came off as goofy more than anything. The best elements of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, however, were Heller's use of production design and Hanks' incredibly touching performance. This film contained many transitions that used sets akin to what Rogers used on his television show and this made me very happy to see. I'm a sucker for innovative ways of telling a story and these transitions definitely solidified the film's target aesthetic. As for Hanks, his performance was expectedly fantastic. His absolute range and the way that he was able to portray such a kind soul with a graceful, stoic manner is phenomenal. I couldn't think of a better actor to cast as this legendary character and Hanks did Rogers nothing but justice. Despite these saving graces, however, these pieces come together to make a film that is not entirely forgettable but one I can't see myself caring enough to watch again.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a perfectly harmless film that hits all of the right notes and utilizes Tom Hanks in a gloriously unforeseen way. While I found the majority of the main story to be too dull to get emotional over, there are still plenty of elements that make this movie chock full of love and I would recommend this film as an easy, pleasant watch. However, I would much rather recommend Neville's documentary from last year as well to really see how important of a figure Fred Rogers was and still is to this day.
My Rating: ★★★
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