A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood- 2019 – PG
I’m at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to Mister Rogers, never once watching his television show which ran for years and years,1968 to 2001. I grew up on Captain Kangaroo and his sidekick Mr. Green Jeans. My two sons were Sesame Street kids. My first born, at about age two, snatched a small stuffed Big Bird off a Sears toy shelf and concealed it in his stroller until we made it back to the car. By then a return to Sears was too far, too late, too new-mom-tired to consider. Big Bird lived a long and happy stuffed animal life in our family.
For me, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood falls somewhere between harmless and intriguing, and by the end of the movie’s 107 minutes my sliding opinion scale stopped at “Interesting.” Before any Mister Rogers’ devotees sling skeins of red sweater yarn at me, remember this movie represents my only exposure to Mister Rogers. Watching Tom Hanks channel his sixth cousin Fred Rogers, here are my impressions: Fred, gentle, gracious and humble, moves slowly but talks even more slowwwwwwwly, with a sing-song lilt framed by a crooked smile. He swims laps, plays the piano, prays nightly on his knees, won’t eat anything with a mother, adores his wonderful wife, Joanne (Maryann Plunkett), weathered bumpy rides with two sons, connects deeply with people and takes ‘love thy neighbor’ to a new level.
The unique plot twist that bumps the film from ho-hum to hmmmm is the intersection of NYC journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) and Fred Rogers. Lloyd is a grim young man who, through aggressive investigative reporting, expertly manages to aggravate and alienate every single one of his Esquire Magazine subjects. As a result no celebrities can be found who are willing to undergo a Lloyd hit piece except one, Mister Rogers. Accepting this “puff” assignment under protest, Lloyd fully expects to expose the “true” Mister Rogers as a fraud, triggering Lloyd’s wonderful and supportive wife, Andrea (Beth from This Is Us, Susan Kelechi Watson) to plead, “Please don’t ruin my childhood.” This film is not so much about Mister Rogers as it is about Mister Rogers, a catalyst of grace, playing the supporting role in reshaping Lloyd’s life.
Before flying off to Pittsburgh for the interview, Lloyd, Susan and newborn Gavin attend the wedding of Lloyd’s sister, Lorraine (Tammy Blanchard). To Lloyd’s bitter dismay, Dad Jerry Vogel (Chris Cooper) walks Lorraine down the aisle. A little later, post-toasts, Dad and Lloyd wind up throwing haymakers at each other over the punch bowl. Seems drinking and carousing and cheating Jerry abandoned the family when his wife, mother of Lloyd and Lorraine, took ill, leaving the kids alone to deal with her gruesome death. Forgiveness is not an option.
As cynical Lloyd meets Mister Roger’s Peaceable Kingdom Neighborhood of insightful puppets, simple melodies, cathartic harmonies, deep listening and straightforward speaking, their professional engagement quickly evolves to personal. When it begins to dawn on Lloyd that Mister Roger’s professional, fictional world is in fact identical to Fred’s personal, real life world, a bewildered Lloyd’s transformation begins. We witness the tempering and resolving of Lloyd’s deep seated, seething resentment and hostility, the healing of underlying negativity that has chipped away at his self-confidence and eroded his hopes of being the father he never had. We watch gratefully as Lloyd’s emotional load is lightened.
The film ends on a paradoxical note. Lloyd’s bittersweet family reconciliation and victorious journalistic cover story is paired with a scene of Fred at home exorcising anger by banging on the family piano. What do we take away from this? Life is a balance of ups and downs? Finding peace in a cemetery or rage at home are simply natural to the human condition so deal with it? The word mystifying sums up the puzzling ending along with one prolonged scene where Lloyd hallucinates and faints, only to wake up snug and safe in bed at the home of piano playing duet, talented Mister and Mrs. Rogers. Was that real or imaginary? I’ve heard Tom Hanks mentioned for an Oscar and to that I start looking for a piano to bang. I’m sticking with “Interesting” as my overall impression of this film. It’s worth seeing, especially if you enjoy reliving a nostalgic romp with Mister Rogers. We need more nice, warm-fuzzy, character-building movies in this day and age of stress and division so I wish you and yours a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
