A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – Review

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Directed by: Marielle Heller

Runtime: 109 minutes

I find it strangely coincidental that I got to see A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood the same week I moved out of my top floor inner-city apartment into a house sitting on a picturesque suburban street. It feels like a scene straight of Pleasantville. I’m almost tempted to start wandering down my street and knocking on random doors in the hopes of finding Mr. Rogers on the other side. I’m still trying to figure out if this would be a polite, or creepy endeavour. I’ll keep you posted.

I’ll be the first to admit that going into the film, I only had a surface level knowledge of Mr. Rogers. We didn’t get much exposure to him in Australia. The main thing that drew me into the seat was Tom Hanks and the snippets of his performance in trailers. When the credits rolled, not only did I get the great acting I was promised, but I got a different kind of story I wasn’t expecting and an opportunity to visit a part of myself that I hadn’t seen in a while.

The film opens up with a recreation of the intro sequence to Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood (apparently it took twenty-seven takes to get it right. Don’t worry Tom, I also struggle to tie my shoes). The rest of the show carries on as normal until Mr. Rogers introduces a bloodied picture of “his friend” Lloyd Vogel, a writer from Esquire magazine. The film transitions to Lloyd and we find out that he’s going through some intense family issues, while also coping with being a new father. We also find out that Lloyd has a notorious reputation when it comes to the articles he writes. So much so that no one will accept an interview from him for Esquire’s next issue about “heroes”. No one except, of course, Mr. Fred Rogers himself.

The film carries on as if everything that’s happened is part of an episode of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. Scene transitions are done with brightly coloured hand-crafted models and stop-motion animation, only to cut back to a darker palate of greys and shadows. It’s a creative way to give what would usually be functional establishing shots some unique personality and flavour. Fred also tries to use the same teaching methods he uses in his show to teach Lloyd how to handle his feelings and help rebuild his broken family, giving Lloyd some much need emotional development—much like he did for the children that watched his show.

Despite what the trailers and marketing make it look like, Fred Rogers is never actually the main focus of this film. This isn’t a biography of Mr. Rogers and his show. Rather, the film focuses on Lloyd’s journey and how Fred changes his perspective of his relationships and himself. This film was never aiming to tell the story of Mr. Rogers; it wants to capture the feeling many children got from watching his show. You start to get a real sense of how important of a figure Mr. Rogers was, and why he is still beloved by many.

The film goes from great to excellent when it gradually shifts the focus away from Lloyd and onto you, the viewer. There comes a point where Fred is having a certain conversation with Lloyd, but in talking to Lloyd, he’s also talking to us. After this moment, I’ll be honest, I was only half-watching the end of movie. The rest of my mind started to reflect. I thought about my family, my friends, my happiness, my place in life, and so much more. This film had managed to put me into a deep, reflective, almost melancholy state. It’s a feeling I haven’t felt since watching Boyhood. I re-watch Boyhood on occasion whenever I feel like I need to check myself emotionally. It’s a feeling I love, and it’s a feeling that I think is important to experience. To go into your psyche and see what you find, as confronting as that may be. Any film that can pull this emotion out of me, I inherently love. This is the best reason I can give you to go and see A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood. Not only is it an interesting story told in a creative way: it has a great script, great acting and great direction. But hopefully, like me, you’ll leave the cinema having a new sense of self. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to make an appointment with my therapist. It’s been a while.