Grade: 4/5
I grew up watching Mr Roger’s neighborhood as a child, seeing him wearing his signature cardigan, taking off his shoes and speaking to us kids directly in the comfortable setting of his tv living room. There was a certain peace around the show which became popular with children and adults as it tackled important issues like anger, race, fear, illnesses, trip to the dentist, etc in a manner that was soothing, not overbearing. What a brilliant idea it was to make a movie on this gentle, good, friendly soul. Tom Hanks was the ideal choice for this role – I can’t imagine anyone else playing the character with such perfection. Even though he doesn’t resemble the actual Fred Rogers, he was able to don the persona of Mr. Rogers in a way that exuded the nobility and character of the man.
The movie is the true story on the life of Fred Rogers – a television personality who takes deep interest in making children happy through his public tv program “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood”. An esquire magazine reporter (Lloyd Vogel played by Matthew Rhys) gets the assignment of doing a feature on Mr. Rogers. He finds this assignment as a fluff job and feels he should be allowed to cover something more substantial in his mind. But his boss doesn’t take no for an answer so he has no choice but to grudgingly acquiesce, even though he views Mr. Roger’s persona to be fake. He flies to Pittsburgh (where Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood is set) to meet and interview Fred Rogers. His first encounter with him is at the set of the show where he gets his first peek at the goodness of the man. Everyone is waiting for the show to start filming but Mr. Rogers is engrossed in a discussion with a young sick boy and his parents. Mr Rogers gives the boy his undivided attention even though his staff is seen getting antsy because they want to start the filming, which is already in considerable delay. This scene itself is a microcosm of what Mr. Rogers was; A noble man.
The story continues with the reporter covering Mr. Rogers and slowly but surely, transforming his skepticism into admiration. The reporter has his own personal issues that he is grappling with and the movie does a good job intertwining the stories of these two main characters.
Side note: During filming of the movie, Tom Hanks was pleasantly surprised after discovering that he was related to Mr. Rogers….6th cousin according to Ancestry.com! “Fred Rogers and Tom Hanks are sixth cousins sharing the same 5x great-grandfather … who immigrated from Germany to America in the 18th century,” according to Ancestry spokeswoman Keri Madonna.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/19/entertainment/tom-hanks-fred-rogers-related-trnd/index.html
Bottom line – The movie is a bit slow in parts and sentimental but by no means is it a depressing movie. It doesn’t have the razzmatazz of a typical holiday feature but parents who want to take their kids to see a wholesome movie that has a touch of reality, feelings and emotions – this is a good one. It gives kids (and adults) hope that there is still unconditional good left in this World.
At an event celebrating the 25th anniversary of his show in 1993, Rogers said, “It’s not the honors and not the titles and not the power that is of ultimate importance. It’s what resides inside.”
Excellent review. Exactly what I wanted to know about the film.
Thanks Babar! Especially coming from a movie director like you…means alot!
Miss Khurram did it…
Haha. This time “I did it”
Great review. Cannot wait to see it, specially after meeting Mr. Rogers in person. Looking forward to more reviews.
Thanks Rakesh! Didn’t know you met him. Wow. You lived in Pittsburgh so I’m assuming that’s where you met him. Really good movie.