A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 2019

     This film is based on the true story of the real friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Lloyd Vogel.  It is about  kindness triumphing over cynicism.  Esquire Magazine writer Lloyd Vogal is a jaded and bitter man.  He is assigned by is editor to write a profile of Fred Rogers.  In the beginning, he is very skeptical and he doesn’t believe Fred Rogers is really like the person he seems?  Fred must be putting on an act for his show but he can't really be like this in is regular life?  Lloyd learns about empathy, kindness and decency from Fred.  Lloyd starts to believe in Fred, is behavior is real and it begins to change Lloyd’s life.   

     This is a biopic based on the meeting of a cynical writer Lloyd Vogel and Mister Rogers.  Hanks does a very good job of playing Mister Rogers but this film is nothing like I thought it would be?  I thought it would be about the Mister Rogers program, how the program originated, how they came up with the ideas and the positive connection he had with children.  Also, it would include information about Mister Rogers’ background, his wife and his two sons.  This is 100% not a film for children!!  2 1/2* (This movie is so-so) 

109 min, Bio directed by Marielle Heller with Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Maryann Plunkett, Enrico Colantoini, Wendy Makkena, Tammy Blanchard, Noah Harpster, Carmen Cusack, Kelley Davis, Christine Lahti, Maddie Corman, Daniel Krell.  

Note:  Imdb 7.3 out of 10 with 47,532 reviews, 96% with 349 critics 92% with 11,256 ratings, Roger Ebert 3 1/2* Monica Castillo, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Common Sense Media, Sandie Angulo Chen, age 10+, positive messages 5*, role models 5*, violence 2*, sex 1*, language 2*, consumerism 1*, drinking drugs & smoking 2*, Amazon 4.5* out of 5* with 10,333 reviews, Letterboxd 3.7* out of 5* with 89 fans.

Special Note:  Fred Rogers had a reputation for being extremely difficult to interview.  It was because he cared more about the person interviewing him than he did about being interviewed.  He would often use this time to befriend the person interviewing him.  Ancestry has confirmed that Tom Hanks and Fred Rogers are actually sixth cousins.  Joanne Rogers, Fred’s widow said that she thought Tom Hanks was the perfect actor to play Fred.