A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Can You Say... Heartwarming?

Rating: 7.0/10

Though it feels too perfect and fantastical at times, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a heartwarming and inspiring film.

Highlights: 

• Tom Hanks was perfect

• Heartwarming

• Based on a true story

Lowlights: 

• A little too perfect

• Not enough focus on Rogers

• Felt like a fever dream at times

After being forced to attend a showing of the documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor and being completely touched and inspired by Fred Rogers, I was very excited to watch a film about the same wonderful person starring Tom Hanks. Though it was a good film, I was disappointed it didn't focus on Rogers' life more and thought it seemed, at times, a little too perfect due to the lack of information on Rogers. Though Hanks and Matthew Rhys (Lloyd Vogel) did great jobs, there were moments when I was genuinely confused about what was going on in the film. It felt like a fever dream at times, and I didn't quite understand why an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood had to frame parts of the film. Overall, however, it was inspiring to see how Rogers affected Vogel's life, though I would've preferred more focus on Rogers himself.

Did you watch the movie? Do you want more? Check out the article that inspired the movie, Tom Junod of Esquire's "Can You Say... Hero?". It's worth a read and gives more examples of how Mister Rogers changed people's lives. In addition, I'd highly recommend the documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor which details Rogers' life and how he affected thousands of people. The additional information on Rogers makes his kindness more believable, and I would not have enjoyed A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood as much if I hadn't seen this film. I'd highly recommend watching Won't You Be My Neighbor!

Watch the trailer!