Review of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) by Brent_Marchant — 24 Nov 2019

An excellent tale of redemption and forgiveness wherein children's TV icon Mr. Rogers intervenes to help heal the anguish plaguing a hard-nosed investigative reporter and his estranged father. Tom Hanks delivers an outstanding, exceedingly reverent portrayal of the legendary and unlikely television star, as does Chris Cooper as the long-absent and now-penitent father figure.

Director Marielle Heller serves up a heartwarming yarn whose innate predictability is creatively offset by a variety of inventive cinematic techniques and clever storytelling techniques. The picture could have used a stronger male lead than Matthew Rhys, and the back story of the protagonist's conflict could have been fleshed out a little more effectively, but the film otherwise comes through with a soothing quality that the world could use more of these days.