MOVIE TITLE: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
DIRECTOR: Marielle Heller
YEAR: 2019
GENRE: Drama
RATING: PG for violence
GRADE: Extra Credit
After watching this movie and having sore eyeballs as a
result, I can say with a hundred percent conviction that the story is
completely devoid of Mary-Sues and Gary-Stus. On the contrary, imperfections
can be found among every character, including Mr. Fred Rogers himself. He may
be a kind and gentle soul in public as well as on TV, but even he admits that
he makes mistakes every now and then. He too gets angry. He too feels sad. He
too had a tumultuous childhood and married life. The only difference is, he’d
rather use positivity and creative therapy as a conduit for his emotions, not
violence and rage. It takes work to achieve this kind of attitude towards life.
And yes, there are many bumps in the road. Tom Hanks, the actor who played Mr.
Rogers, openly admitted to being terrified to play his role. He doesn’t have to
be anymore, because he knocked it out of the park. He made me believe in the
kindness of Mr. Rogers all over again, imperfections and all.
Lloyd Vogel, the journalist who is assigned to interview Mr.
Rogers, has his own share of imperfections. He hates his father, he’s
questioning himself as a parent, he’s wrapped up in his work and can’t be there
for his family, and he’s stubborn about not wanting to interview a “hokey
children’s show host”. To put it mildly, he’s got a lot of anger in his heart
and won’t let anybody in. After many interviews with Mr. Rogers, his
transformation into a loving and forgiving person becomes the basis for his
character development. It’s a slow, distrustful, and heartbreaking
transformation. He even shows glimpses of the father he hates so much. If
you’re a big fan of character development, you’ll easily get behind Lloyd
Vogel. When he cries, you cry. When he’s angry, you’re angry. When he triumphs,
you’ll cheer for him. He makes awful decisions, but that doesn’t detract from
him being a relatable protagonist.
You know who else has a lot of growing up to do? Jerry
Vogel, Lloyd’s aforementioned jerk of a father. He mocks his son at the
beginning of the movie and the two get physical over it (hence the PG rating
for violence). Jerry slept around while the mother of the family was dying. He
abandoned the family when they needed him the most. But it’s easy to tell that
he’s a sleazebag from the minute he first appears on the screen. The rest of
these revelations come naturally. But is he a redeemable character? Can he too
go through a transformation and mend fences with his son? Yes, he’s a
sleazebag, but if he was perfect and gallant all the time, there’d be no story
and there’d be nothing to cheer for as the movie progresses. You like character
development, right? You like slow transformations? You like redemption stories?
Keep an eye on Jerry Vogel. Will your patience pay off? Watch the movie and
find out.
As I mentioned before, my eyes got sore during the more
emotional moments of this movie. None of it came across as cheesy. This was
genuine emotion and nobody knew more about how to deal with our emotions than
Fred Rogers himself. It takes time. It takes patience. But it’s worth it in the
end. That’s what this movie means to me. That’s why this movie gets a solid
five out of five stars. A perfect grade for a movie about imperfect people. It
truly is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. There better be some award
victories for this movie.
