A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)'s comments

Do you want to let us know what you think? Just login, after which you will be redirected back here and you can leave your comments.

greenhorg

If Rogers was still alive the misanthropic journalist would just goad the gentle old minister into saying something skeptical about "trans bodies" or some such freshly-minted Woke taboo and his show would get insta-canceled, Taco Bell and Reebok would get their kewl corporate pot-shots in on social media ("Can you say... bigot!"), and the journalist would win a Pulitzer.

Now THAT movie might be worth watching. This was Hallmark Channel tier treacle.

3 years 9 months ago

xianjiro

While Hanks and Rhys do a fine job with what they have to work with, by far my favorite part of this were the models - of the neighborhood, Pittsburgh, and Manhattan. Really cool both in keeping with the original but also used to move the narrative between locations. Yes, it's a bit touching or a bit soppy depending on one's POV so can't say I thought it more than an average drama otherwise.

2 years 1 month ago

Emiam

7/10
A different film. Hanks makes a really good achievement, Rhys also good as he wrestles with his past. I am glad that I have seen it, even if you as a Swede does not know the somewhat odd child program leader that the film is partly based on. "Americas Best Neighbor."

2 years 5 months ago

chunkylefunga

I knew nothing about Fred Rogers before this movie and really I still don't know much about him. This movie focussed way too much on the journalist and hardly at all about Fred.

Would have been much better if they actually delved deep into what made Fred tick.

4 years 1 month ago

Earring72

What a suprise. Didn't know Fred Rogers but this was really sweet and moving. Great cast and touchng movie

2 years 11 months ago

Torgo

As an European, I had little exposure to Fred "Mr." Rogers; all my background I got from 2018's documentary, which indeed evoked this image of an innocent, idealistic man trying to improve childhood and by that, society, and leave the world behind more peaceful. The opposite of everything you experience in this part of the 21st century. I think I get the idea of this fascinating persona.

Then there's this fictional feature film. Tom Hanks, judging from what I saw, was great as Rogers and a very appropriate choice. Too bad he just provides the narrative framework for a guy I didn't care for and with whose story I couldn't connect at all. From the beginning, I was lost on this movie. Pity, because it didn't look bad and the concept is something to work with.
Apparently, I'm in the minority with that. If you read this and wonder about a 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating: we are the 5%. It's okay. Most people felt it, we didn't.

3 years 3 months ago

dippygirl78

I have no idea who Mr Rogers was, so the film was a little lost on me. Great performances all round but a little slow for me. No doubt Mr Rogers was an incredible man but I don't need to see more than 10 minutes to know this.

3 years 7 months ago

ClassicLady

Everyone is always trying to find out what made Fred Rogers tick. Isn’t it enough to know that whatever demons he might have had - like we all have - he managed to keep in control of them and helped to bring up a generation of children who learned to do the same? Personally, even as a child I never cared for Mr. Rogers and his neighborhood. It all seemed so hokey to me. But that has more to do with my cold, neglectful upbringing than it does with Mr. Rogers.

3 years 9 months ago

Siskoid

If you've seen the Mr. Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood won't really tell you anything new about Fred Rogers. The story is really about the cynical investigative journalist who interviews him for Esquire magazine and how his life is changed by meeting a genuinely good person. The Lloyd Vogel of the film is a fictionalized version of Esquire's Tom Junod, with more extreme family problems to bring the drama in sharper focus. What's absolutely true to life is Mr. Rogers himself, brought to life by Tom Hanks with no small measure of subtlety, in particular a seething temper always kept under control. Director Marielle Heller recreates the children's program itself to create a soft video frame tale for the movie, presented by Mr. Rogers, and hokey model shots to build transitions and dream sequences. Personally, I found the Vogel story extremely relatable, and it pushed some buttons, but Rogers' amazing grace had the effect it did in the documentary - I wept for long periods and being in a crowded movie theater, had to keep from noisily bawling a couple of times. There are some astonishing moments of humanity in this. Not a dry eye in the house.

4 years 4 months ago

Adrian B AWESOME

It's ok, but it shouldn't be Mr. Rogers framing the story about some boring writer and his boring, movie-cliche reconciliation story. Every time Hanks is off-screen, I was wondering "why is the best part of the movie not on screen?" He's in maybe 45 minutes of the movie, to its detriment. Go watch last year's documentary instead, far more satisfying.

4 years 5 months ago

satisfythecrave

It's been quite challenging for me to sit down and jot down some of my thoughts following watching this film. I've had this tab open for the past five days because I want to write my thoughts, but my thoughts are very painful.

Personally, I'm in the process of mourning. Like Lloyd Vogel, my parent is also terminally sick. I'm unable to communicate with them as well. Our trauma is different than the one Lloyd and Jerry share, but I can't help seeing me in their relationship. Also, my parent loves Mr. Rogers and showed me his show as a child - he, the show, what he was doing for children and education, even the city of Pittsburgh means a lot to my parent. I can't help but think about my own situation via this film.

The last film I watched that was produced by Big Beach was The Farewell. Both films share this theme of losing (grand)parents. I saw The Farewell on the day my terminally ill uncle died. Unbeknownst to me, I saw A Beautiful Day... on that same uncle's birthday. These little synchronicities spice up my life. They give me some sort of balance, some sort of hope.

This and The Farewell are my film companions as I prepare to lose my own parent. It's devasting and my heart is broken but I'm glad to have a film I wish I could share with them, that reminds me of a time when I felt safe, cared for, and loved unconditionally.

4 years 4 months ago

BogartBaggins

A lovely and and compassionate picture, and like the TV show, addresses and tries to simplify to a sense of understanding some very challenging topics. A good watch for anyone tired of super heroes, dark thrillers, etc and in need for a soul cleanser

4 years 5 months ago