'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood' film review: Hanks as Mister Rogers is ... fine
The most surprising aspect of the biographical drama "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" (opening in theaters nationwide Nov. 22) is just how tangential Fred Rogers is to the story - but this is less about the man and more about his approach to life.
In short: Journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is assigned to profile beloved television icon Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks), while Lloyd must confront his estranged relationship with his father Jerry (Chris Cooper).
"Beautiful Day" isn't a typical biographical movie attempting to tell Rogers' life story, but rather, "Beautiful Day" focuses on how Rogers and his outlook affected everyone around him. The film is a contrast of personalities: the elementally cynical, curt Vogel and the wholesome, patient Fred. At its core, "Beautiful Day" is a "half empty versus half full" discourse, pitting Vogel's practical, skeptical perspective against Rogers' patient, empathetic optimism.
In many ways, "Beautiful Day" is a dramatic re-imaging of an episode of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" geared toward adults harboring long-simmering resentments. The movie even opens much like any episode of the children's show: opening upon a miniature town, with Rogers putting on his cardigan and introducing the audience to his friends.
On paper, Hanks (himself a universally beloved personality) is the dream casting to play the cherished Fred Rogers. Hanks gives an admirable turn as Rogers, however, it does fall short of transformative. Hanks radiates a kindly warmth throughout the film and the actor's goodwill fits Rogers perfectly, however, he doesn't disappear into the role. While his performance is solid, the fact that it always feels like "Hanks playing Rogers" is a problem.
"Beautiful Day" pulls at the heart strings - but its most moving moments are almost always rooted in moments from the TV show rather than the core narrative. Watching everyday children on a subway spontaneously burst into the "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" is a sweet moment that accentuates how much Fred Rogers meant to his fans -- but it doesn't do much to augment the film's main story, which is locked on Vogel's strained relationship with his father. The film takes a few too many moments to stop and reassert over and over "boy, people sure love Fred Rogers." It's cute the first few times to see these moments, but after a while it's just repetitive.
Final verdict: "Beautiful Day" is a nice little movie that applies Fred Rogers' fundamental themes to grown-up concerns. Much like the film itself, Hank's performance is perfectly fine. Not bad, not great - just good.
Score: 3/5
"A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" opens in theaters nationwide Nov. 22. This biographical drama has a running time of 109 minutes and is rated PG for some strong thematic material, a brief fight, and some mild language.
