WHAT’S IT ABOUT
A journalist’s life is enriched by friendship when he takes on an assignment profiling Fred Rogers. Based on the real-life friendship between journalist Tom Junod and television star Fred Rogers.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
At first glance, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood would appear to be about Mr. Fred Rogers. That is because it’s marketed that way. Honestly, I was a bit hesitant to see it, considering there was just a remarkable documentary (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) released earlier this year. So my argument was WHY. Why make a movie about Mister Rogers right after an unforgettable story about his life only a few months ago? Well, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood it not a Mister Rogers movie. Yes, Tom Hanks portrays him, and yes, Rogers is the primary catalyst of the film, but this is not about Fred Rogers, the man. This film is about the essence of Fred. It’s about his ideas, his ways of thinking, and the overall concept that make up the person America loves. Once you understand that, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood becomes what it was meant to be – a great film with a moral compass we should all try and live by. In the movie, an Essence reporter named Lloyd Vogel, known for his brash articles is given the assignment to interview Mister Rogers. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that this movie is more about the reporter than Rogers. Lloyd’s way of thinking has poisoned his existence in every aspect. After meeting with Fred, he is forced to rethink his life’s choices. He has a love/hate relationship with his job. His wife has growing concerns and his well-being and he refused to talk to his father. Each interview with Rogers is like therapy for Lloyd, even if he’s not immediately aware of it. There are parts of the film when Fred is seen more as a guide assisting Lloyd through his life, than an actual person. Before long, Fred is practically non-existent as the focus is totally on Lioyd’s life. His struggles force us to look at our own shortcomings and empathize while trying not to judge a situation any of us could be stuck in. Lloyd is, by all accounts, a nice guy, and this movie does have its moments, but why they had to use Mr. Rogers as a euphemism is beyond me.
Media
- Genre – Drama
- Street date
- Digital – February 4th 2020
- DVD/Blu-Ray/4K – February 18th 2020
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 1:85.1
- Sound – English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English, French, Portuguese Audio Descriptive Service, Czech, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles – English, English SDH, Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Croatian, Czech, French, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Thai, Turkish
Extras
- Over 15 Minutes of Additional Scenes
• Blooper Reel
• Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers
• The People Who Make a Neighborhood: The Making Of
• Dreaming Big, Building Small: The Puppets & Miniatures
• Daniel Tiger Explains: Practice Makes Perfect
• Filmmaker Commentary