Fame is a four-letter word. What matters is what we do with it.
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 50 Movies of 2020...
#16 : A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood
Biopic of popular American TV presenter Fred Rogers, beloved to generations of kids for his kindly mien and homely cardigans showcased in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Tom Hanks, naturally, is a perfect fit for the role.
I'm vaguely aware of Fred Rogers and am lead to believe that "nice" is the most appropriate adjective, so I can see that Tom Hanks is a good choice for the role. I also know that the story is based on a journalist's attempt (and failure) to find something behind the "nice" - and I can also confirm that, for the first time in quite some time (5 or so films), this is a film I'm actually LOOKING FORWARD to watching. Wonders will never cease!
And the pre-title scene is well done, introducing Tom/Fred in character ("won't you be my neighbour?") before taking a slight left turn ("do you know what forgiveness is?") which hooks you in. The toy funicular in the title scene is soooo cute as well! And some Nick Drake on the soundtrack too - nice!
And then we're off to meet the journalist (Lloyd Vogel) who is obviously pretty damn cynical and has trust and father issues - I think we can guess which way this one is going to go. But who's gonna come out on top? Like there's any doubt about that - he says, cynically...
And yeah, I'm not going to describe it in any more detail but it's fair to say the film doesn't make too many unexpected swerves plot-wise. I imagine it means a lot more to you if you grew up with Mr Rogers (and some research on Wikipedia suggests a LOT of people did), but even to someone with zero hours of viewing experience (such as me) it felt warm and inclusive, which I'm guessing is the feeling they were going for.
Tom Hanks is excellent (you knew that already didn't you?) but you'd have to say the perfect casting does make you think it's not exactly a stretch for him. Matthew Rhys as Lloyd has the more interesting character who conveys a wider range of emotions as he goes on his journey and you'd have to say he does a good job at taking you with him. Chris Cooper (another extremely reliable actor) also deserves a mention for his sympathetic portrayal of a very unsympathetic character and Susan Kelechi Watson also deserves plaudits for a very naturalistic (and long-suffering) take on Andrea, Lloyd's wife.
Unexpectedly, for what could be a remarkably straightforward film, there are a surprising amount of stylistic variations (it reminded me of Book Smart in this regard, which is well worth a watch if you haven't seen it). The use of model towns throughout the film is charming - I'm assuming that's a feature from Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood and it works well when pushed out into the wider world. There's a fantasy section in the middle of the film which could quite easily have been pushed way over the top, but it's handled really well. But most impressive for me was the scene in the Chinese restaurant featuring an unexpected and impressive combination of a minute's silence along with some very subtle breaking of the fourth wall - it's a very well put together scene which provides quite a moving experience.
So, yes, it's folksy. And, yes, it's homespun. And yes, it's just so goddam nice. But sometimes that's what you need - and it manages to be engaging, thought-provoking and entertaining at the same time and really what more do you want from a film? Well, I realise that some people will hate it but personally I really enjoyed it and thoroughly recommend it as a joyous, life-affirming hug of a film.
At the time of writing, it's available to watch on Sky or rent on any of the other usual channels and it is, in my humble opinion, well worth a couple of hours of your time.
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