A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood stars Tom Hanks as (apparently) much-loved American TV presenter Fred Rogers, star of the children’s show Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood which ran from 1968 to 2001. I presume that, like me, most Australians will not have heard of the man or the show so are going in cold here.
Set in 1998 and based on real-life events, the film is about journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) who is tasked with doing a short puff piece on Rogers. Vogel is battling some heavy stuff, not least the unresolved anger at his father who abandoned the family when his mum was dying. As he gets to know Rogers over many encounters, Vogel tries desperately to scratch the ultra-kind exterior of Rogers to find something more. Unfortunately all he discovers is that Rogers is actually just a very kind person (BORING!) and that it’s he who has the interesting stuff going on that needs to be dealt with.
This film is pleasant enough but frankly I don’t get the fuss. For a while there I was thinking, crikey, he’s going to uncover that Rogers is a horrific paedophile or something and this is going to turn into a dark drama. Nope. Just a nice enough but slightly traumatised younger guy getting to know a boringly nice older guy.
Time magazine included A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood on its list of the ten best films of 2019 and to that I say, NO SIR PLEASE AND THANK YOU, YOU ARE WRONG. (If you want further proof of their wrong-ness, the list also includes The Irishman, which I switched off after 30 minutes. Do not @ me.) That said, I did read a 2.5 star review of the film in The Age which is about what I’d give it, I think. Not terrible, not excellent, just a bit ho hum.
This is the piece Vogel ultimately had published in Esquire magazine following his encounters with Rogers, if you’d like some additional reading. As you will discover if you read it, it wound up being something very different to a puff piece on Rogers.
A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood is in cinemas now. It’s rated PG and runs for 109 minutes. Trailer here.