A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Director: Marielle Heller Marielle Heller

Overview

Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is tasked with creating a profile of Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks), the creator and star of the successful children's program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. He dutifully goes to the studio where his subject is filming his show, and soon enough, he is sitting down with him, asking him probing questions. However, Fred seems to have a different plan in mind. The interviewee suddenly becomes the interviewer, and he starts to help the writer sent for him in unexpected ways. The film, which is based on the 1988 Esquire cover story by Tom Junod, is directed by Marielle Heller.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/18/2020
UPC:	0043396549159
Original Release:	2019
Rating:	PG
Source:	SONY PICTURES
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:49:00
Sales rank:	18,191

Special Features

Over 15 minutes of additional scenes; Blooper reel; Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers; The people who make a neighborhood: the making of; Dreaming big, building small: the puppets & miniatures; Daniel Tiger explains: practice makes perfect; Filmmaker commentary; English Description track; English SDH subtitles

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tom Hanks	Fred Rogers
Matthew Rhys	Fred Rogers
Wendy Makkena	Dorothy
Enrico Colantoni	Bill Isler
Chris Cooper	Jerry Vogel
Susan Kelechi Watson	Andrea Vogel,Diana
Maryann Plunkett	Joanne Rogers
Tammy Blanchard	Lorraine
Noah Harpster	Todd
Carmen Cusack	Margy
Kelley Davis	1st AD
Christine Lahti	Ellen
Maddie Corman	Lady Aberlin
Daniel Krell	monsieur McFeely
Gretchen Koerner	Doctor
Mark August	Young Boy's Dad
Jessica Hecht	Lila Vogel
Di Zhu	Waitress
Diane Monroe	Uptown String Quartet
Sakina Jaffrey	Ellen
Kitty Crystal	Subway Punk
Scott Rapp	Bartender
Kevin L. Johnson	Darin Scharf
Michael Masini	Richie
Mike Ancas	WQED Grip
Phil Nardozzi	Hospital Visitor
Gregory Bromfield	Awards Banquet Waiter
Tom Bonello	WQED Grip and Electric
Patrick McDade	Rick
William Caraballo	Port Authority Passenger
Jon L. Peacock	Sound Technician
Gavin Borders	Young Boy
Tressa Glover	Young Boy's Mom
Maxine Roach	Uptown String Quartet
Lesa Terry	Uptown String Quartet
Tahirah Whittington	Uptown String Quartet
Nigel Swinson	Subway Singer
Kayla Fan	Subway Singer
Alexander Ment	Subway Singer
Olivia Ruiz	Subway Singer
Kiesse Yengo-Passy	Subway Singer
Marcel Kottmann	Subway Singer
John Castagliola	Subway Singer
Preston Lopez	Subway Singer
Reginald Bannerman	Subway Singer
Spencer Lott	Puppeteer
Haley Jenkins	Puppeteer
Marc Petrosino	Puppeteer
Kathleen Kim	Puppeteer
Nate Heller	Composer

Technical Credits

Micah Fitzerman-Blue

Noah Harpster

Tom Junod

Marielle Heller	Director
Micah Fitzerman-Blue	Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Noah Harpster	Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Peter Saraf	Producer
Leah Holzer	Producer,Executive Producer
Youree Henley	Producer
Tom Junod	Screenwriter
Bergen Swanson	Executive Producer
Marc Turtletaub	Producer
Howard Chen	Executive Producer
Edward Cheng	Executive Producer
Sarah Peter	Producer
Filipe Messeder	Sound Editor
George Simpson	Sound Mixer
Jim Emswiller	Sound Mixer

Editorial Reviews

Directed by Marielle Heller and written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood stars Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys. Lloyd Vogle (Rhys) writes for Esquire magazine. Though he's an award-winning magazine journalist, it seems that his rough reputation has put in him in a bind. No celebrity wants to be interviewed by him. With a limited pool of participants, he's assigned to write a puff piece for the only person who's still willing to talk to him: the iconic Fred Rogers (Hanks), creator of the children's TV series, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Who is Fred Rogers? It depends on whom you ask. Fred Rogers might be either the mere host of a hokey children's show or a living saint. Either way, it's not a question that Lloyd is being paid to answer very deeply. But his journalistic instincts pick up on the fact that there's more to Mister Rogers than meets the eye. Lloyd, amidst dealing with his own troubled family life, tries to dig into Rogers' private emotional realm. He brings to light a few fascinating topics as a result: how Rogers feels about shouldering the immense burden of being America's father and listening to peoples' troubles. Unfortunately, the story doesn't dig into where the audience's interest lies-in Mister Rogers' life. Instead, attention is steered towards Lloyd's. But what's so interesting about Lloyd? There is indeed potential in the character. He is, as he says of himself, a broken person. In fact, early in the film he gives a speech, saying that writing is a way to "change a broken world with […] words." The movie itself reaches towards this theme of restoring the broken. Undoubtedly, a movie about Mister Rogers-free to roam in the realm of fiction-has enormous promise and opportunity to evoke heartfelt tenderness by communicating Mister Rogers' sentiment-that all people should be loved and accepted exactly as they were. It's disappointing that this theme-along with the theme exploring the relationship between anger and forgiveness-isn't quite developed to its full potential. While audiences can see that there is something broken about Lloyd and his family, the story doesn't quite tug at the heart strings due to its lack of depth. It doesn't help that the narrative splits its time and attention between Mister Rogers and Lloyd. The story reaches to convey that the truth about Mister Rogers lies somewhere in between his public embodiment of agape love and his private struggles. It also tries to explore Lloyd's relationship with his family. But neither character is explored in enough detail for audiences to develop an attachment to one or the other. That lack of dramatic impact lies partly in the acting too. There is something missing in Rhys' performance. Yes, there are a few convincing moments, such as the scene in Rogers' apartment in New York City. There, he reveals a sense of unexpected vulnerability that was brought about by Rogers' nonjudgmental questions and uncanny ability to connect to his troubled inner child. But the anger he conveys lacks the pain and anguish, nuances that would've shown audiences a great depth of brokenness. Because of this missed opportunity, Hanks' performance as the kind, gentle soul is flattened a touch. One is left to contemplate what would've happened if Rhys instead had given audiences the impression that his character had a deep spiritual need to connect with Rogers. The movie has a few aspects to appreciate. For one, it makes creative use of the format of Rogers' show to weave together the narrative. It's also punctuated with shots of the model neighborhood, featuring a vintage charm. And a dream sequence set in The Neighborhood of Make-Believe is quite a treat to watch. But ultimately, the movie is unremarkable due to its underdeveloped themes and characters. Fans of drama films may be disappointed. And those who love Mister Rogers are better off watching the documentary, Won't You Be My Neighbor?.