Movie Breakdown: A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Pre-Screening Ramble:

Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers.  That’s it.  That’s the only reason I need to see A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood.

Post-Screening Ramble:

First of all, you should know that A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood is not about Fred Rogers’ life.  If you’re looking for insight on that or his beloved show, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, then I advise watching Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, which is a wonderful documentary that came out last year.

So what is A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood about?  Well, it’s essentially a new episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The film opens the same exact way as it did, plus it uses the same transitions (with miniatures), the same supporting characters and it wraps the same as the show.  Again, it’s not really about Fred Rogers, but he and his famed program are always present, as they’re the main forces behind the redemption of the fella that’s at the center of the movie, Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), a talented journalist with daddy issues, a newborn kid and more that’s got him in a tailspin.  Unless you’re just not trying at all, you can guess how this one ends, but don’t think for a second that its predictability means you’ll come away empty handed.  There’s lessons to be learned (or at least reminded of) that will leave you sobbing like a baby and ready to hug the world.

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood is just as heartwarming as I figured it would be, but I didn’t expect it to be so cleverly crafted.  See it because it’s one of the year’s best films, but also because it’s just one of those things that’s good for the soul.

One Last Thought:

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood features a segment around the midway mark or so where one of the characters has a dream that they’re in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and it is surprisingly trippy.  Don’t be on drugs during this part.  Or at all during the movie, actually, as Mr. Rogers would likely disapprove of such behavior.