LOUISA: 
LOUISA SAYS:
It’s a dull day in the neighborhood, boys and girls.
What a letdown “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” based on the friendship between Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) and jaded journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), turns out to be. This pointless mess rambles all over the place, is saccharine sweet, inordinately predictable, and is bursting with plenty of platitudes about acceptance and understanding that carry a stench of insincerity. The creepy performances, mediocre story, disinterested direction, and horrendous original score turn this into a flop almost as soon as the opening credits begin.
When Lloyd is assigned to write a profile of Mr. Rogers, he is schooled in life lesson of kindness, decency, and empathy from one of America’s most beloved icons. (In other words, a cynical reporter with extreme daddy issues finds Jesus in the form of a kid’s television host). Instead of diving into what makes Fred tick, we are treated to the dullest of the dull moments in Lloyd’s mundane existence.
Hanks is just okay as the soft-spoken Mr. Rogers, and his performance is nothing but an unsettling, serial killer-esque impersonation rather than anything I’d consider awards-worthy. Rhys has the talent to become a breakout star of the big screen, but here he’s so jaded that I just didn’t care.
Director Marielle Heller, coming down from her high last year (she directed one of my favorites of 2018, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) leans on the crutch of nostalgia to excess. It suggests that she has a disconnect with the material, and there are very few personal touches in her filmmaking here. I could not relate to this movie at all, and a story like this needs to be universal in order to succeed.
Those searching for a traditional biopic should prepare to be disappointed. Instead of focusing on the life of Mr. Rogers, the story fixates more on the home life of Vogel. It’s disjointed in the sense that what the movie presents versus what the audience would most like to see is so out of whack.
If you’re looking for a truly inspiring and in-depth look at the life of Mr. Rogers, check out the 2018 documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Screen Zealots 
That was my first impression about Tom Hanks when I first saw the trailer. I could barely make it though it. I don’t know how could possible sit through this movie. Serial killer-esque impersonation? I was thinking along with the lines of pedo-esque. Really creepy.
Having said that I would recommend “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” as well.
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We were saying that someone could easily recut this as a horror movie as a joke. Super creepy performance from Hanks!
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You are a pointless mess who also just rambled all over the place.
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Thanks so much for your comment! Wow, sounds like many of you could benefit from a bit of kindness advice from Mr. Rogers.
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Who hurt you?
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Ha ha, no one. This movie was just a huge stinker.
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This phrase is particularly insightful:
Marielle Heller, coming down from her high last year leans on the crutch of nostalgia to excess. It suggests that she has a disconnect with the material, and there are very few personal touches in her filmmaking here.
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Thank you! There’s a strong disconnect between the director and this film versus her last film. I thought it was quite noticeable.
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It takes all kinds, so even this movie needs to have a cynical detractor or two exploiting the opportunity to gain attention from having an alternate point of view. We seem to have more than enough “alts” in the environment today, who haven’t quite accepted the reality that perfection is an enemy of goodness.
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Accusations of being contrary for attention always makes me scratch my head, because criticism is just that — a critical opinion. I do my best to write unbiased reviews, and if you take the time to read mine, perhaps you’ll understand what make the movie a failure for me. Thanks for taking the time to comment, but I don’t appreciate being accused of rating a film a particular way just to gain attention. I take more pride, honesty, and integrity in my work.
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Your review totally echoed my experience at this movie. A scary Mr Rogers combined with a weak plot does not make for an enjoyable movie . I do normally find Tom Hanks creepy, but in this role, he was.
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Fell asleep twice.
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Sorry for the typo …I do NOT usually find Tom Hanks creepy, etc…
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Same here! I actually love Tom Hanks!
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A person’s reaction to this movie has proven to be something of a litmus test. A test for what…I won’t mention. But for those who know, this review reads pretty much as expected. I’m sorry you were unable to enjoy it. It’s not really a biopic, and if you went into it expecting another version of the documentary you mentioned, you surely may be disappointed. The movie was intended to simply be an interesting story based on a true event, and in so doing also highlight the unique vision and life of an American icon.
On this, I (and apparently about 90-95 % of those who have taken time to comment publicly) think it succeeded.
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This film will Probably not work well outside America for two reasons. Firstly Mr Rogers is unknown outside the U.S. and with respect to other English speaking countries, it’s too high on the sweetness factor. This is not appreciated elsewhere and leaves one wondering what the children’s show host has to hide. Obviously something!
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Trying to be relevant by bucking the system. Read newspapers. Your review is utter fail.
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Being contrary for attention is not something I do because I am a professional. I stand behind my negative review of this film and won’t be bullied or insulted into changing my opinion.
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