A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a deep and thought-provoking film that relays an important message of kindness in everyday life.
It depicts the relationship between Mr. Rogers, a television personality and star of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, and Lloyd Vogel, a cynical journalist who comes to interview him. Their story is told in an entertaining but meaningful fashion.
The basic plot of the film is that a journalist with a negative outlook on life comes to interview Mr. Rogers and, as a result, has his whole personality flipped. I find this premise to be intriguing in and of itself.
The acting in the film is superb - it genuinely adds to the plot and meaning of the movie. Tom Hanks’ performance as Mr. Rogers is emotional and convincing. Even Hanks’ mannerisms mimic those of Mr. Rogers. It was a great decision to cast Hanks in this starring role.
A lesser-known actor named Matthew Rhys plays Lloyd Vogel. The casting department did very thorough research to find Mathew Rhys, and it clearly paid off. He is a diamond in the rough.
The visuals in the film are also great. The transitions that took place in between Pittsburgh (where Mr. Rogers’ show takes place) and New York (where Lloyd lives and works) were done from the point of view of Mr. Rogers’ play models, which is a very creative component of the film.
Additionally, when Mr. Rogers is in his show on screen, the aspect ratio of the screen was changed to give it the feel of an actual episode of his show. This was really cool to see.
Towards the beginning of the movie, Lloyd gets into a fistfight with his estranged father. When Mr. Rogers learns about this, he is deeply concerned for Lloyd.
In this scene, you can see the sincere emotion on Hanks’ face as he tries to talk to Lloyd regarding this matter. Every time Lloyd brushes him off, you can see the hurt on Hanks’ face. This is one example among many that, like I stated previously, show the acting in the film to be exquisite.
One scene in particular really stands out to me: Mr. Rogers teaches Lloyd that there are many positive outlets to negative feelings, such as playing all of the lowest keys on a piano at once. Here, Mr. Rogers teaches him about the importance of talking feelings out (a main theme explored throughout the film).
This is a lesson that our society needs today, especially with people taking out their frustrations with violence, as we’ve seen in the recent school and synagogue shootings.
Lloyd shows that he’s learned this lesson in the film’s climax, when he gets into another fight with his father. This time, however, it’s only a war of words; Lloyd no longer uses violence to express his frustrations.
Mr. Rogers inspires this change in Lloyd during their interview sessions, when he fires questions back at Lloyd to get to know him better. This is an example of how Mr. Rogers makes sure that not everything is about himself; he makes sure that everybody feels special and cared about.
Lloyd originally feels as though Mr. Rogers is wasting his time with these questions and tries to ignore them. In one session, Lloyd storms out of Mr. Rogers’ apartment out of frustration. But Mr. Rogers never gives up on trying to help Lloyd. This shows us a valuable trait in Mr. Rogers - the determination to never give up.
Lloyd’s character development in this movie is profound. He originally fails to understand the purpose behind Mr. Rogers’ questions, but he eventually starts to realize that Rogers genuinely cares about him and wants him to change for the better.
Lloyd’s “turnaround” moment comes in a dream sequence. Lloyd imagines that he has entered the “The Land of Make Believe” on Mr. Rogers’ show, and there he is able to talk through his feelings. This is a very emotional and powerful sequence - probably the best in the film.
At the end of the film, Lloyd publishes his article on Mr. Rogers and everyone loves it. Previously, his articles about people had been simply nasty and derogatory. This piece, however, was nothing like his previous pieces, showing that Lloyd’s personality has completely changed.
In all, this film might be one of the best I’ve ever seen. I was especially impressed by the way Tom Hanks portrays Rogers as a kind and gentle soul, and by Lloyd’s compelling character change. The one problem I had was that the ending felt a bit rushed, but other than that minor gripe, everything was perfect. I highly recommend this film to anyone looking for something inspirational to watch.