"A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" is about a revolution to change the world, one person at a time. In fact, Mr. Rogers, with an education in ministry, knew that to effectuate change, he had to reach the children. And so he chose public media.
I was a little too old to have grown up with Mr. Rogers. So I was familiar with the skepticism that the protagonist displayed when told that the topic of his next investigation piece was to be the children's TV show host, Mr. Rogers.
I remember watching bits of Mr. Rogers when I was eight or nine and thinking, "is this guy for real?" By then, I was an already jaded kid that was growing up in a dysfunctional family. So when Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) scoffs at Rogers' (Tom Hanks) sing-song voice and hand puppets, I was right there with him.
The next thing that I noticed in the film was the extension of the townscape to depict the transition from Vogel's world to Roger's world. What I mean is that on Mr. Roger's TV show, it traditionally opens with an overview of a model village in which Mr. Roger's neighborhood is located. In the film, though, this townscaped village extends beyond Mr. Roger's neighborhood and transitions to New York. So we see model planes flying into a model NYC and over the Manhattan skyline.
It became clear to me then that what I was watching was the conflict between Vogel's world view and Roger's world view and wondering which world view would survive.
Typically, when a story introduces these kinds of collisions between world views, there is obvious cause for dramatic conflict. But what is unusual in this film is that the conflict between Vogel and Rogers never gives rise to any violence or vitriol. Instead, Rogers is like the steady stroke that sluices through his daily swims. He is steadfast; earnest; serene. There is never any anger; never any judgment. Just a warm wall of ever-present love.
It is apparent that the role of Mr. Rogers was hard for Hanks. He is not a naturally introverted, quiet person: he is exuberant, dynamic. So for him to slow down enough to play the mild-mannered, reserved Rogers was difficult-- it is especially noticeable in the opening scene. He is just a little too eager; too on the nose. But he settles in and I soon forgot it was him.
Rhys was terrific at the surly, hardboiled journalist. And one of my favorites, Chris Cooper, plays Rhys's estranged father so beautifully; with anguish, regret and love.
This movie astonished me. I was prepared to admire it, as I have come to appreciate the genius of Fred Rogers as I have gotten older. But I was not prepared to be fall in love with Fred Rogers.
If ever an American deserves to be canonized as a saint, Fred Rogers, along with Dorothy Day, would get my vote.
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