Review of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) by Jordanlayton — 28 Apr 2020

I liked this film, but I don't know if expectations are going to be met for audiences regarding the film's focus. They weren't for me. This is much more of a story about how Mr. Rogers affected Lloyd Vogel than it is about Mr.

Rogers. In fact, I'd argue Tom Hanks is not even a co-lead in this film. Don't get me wrong, an interesting, if subtle, story is 1 told here and most people will walk out happy (myself included), but it is not what most will expect.

I did like it fine, but I thought it was just okay. It was no "Won't You Be My Neighbor? "from last year. The story was just a bit too undramatic and (probably true to life to evoke the big feels I wanted from it.

Ifs fine to tell an honest story, but to dramatize a true story for the big screen usually means you punch it up with some real drama. With this film, I didn't feel that work had been done. Now *that may be a choice that was made* because Mr.

Rogers was often quite subtle in how he conveyed stories and messages, bui the result here was just a bit too "meh" for me. Still, there was one moment in the film that will stick with me as something I've never seen a film do before and that had a real effect on myself and, seemingly, the audience I was in.

So there's some good and some 1 bad here. I won't be revisiting it. Recommend if you 4 are a Mr. Rogers fan (who isn't?) and are okay with it 4 not quite being a film *about* Fred Rogers.