A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Movie Review
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a 2019 drama film directed by Marielle Heller and starring Tom Hanks and Matthew Rhys. It’s a very sappy movie.
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“Does your spouse have a name?“
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Lloyd Vogel is an investigative journalist who receives an assignment to profile Fred Rogers. He approaches the interview with skepticism as he finds it hard to believe that anyone can have such a good nature. But Rogers eventually forces the reporter to reconcile with his own painful past. Unlike ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?’, which was a breakout hit the previous year, this one doesn’t deal directly with Rogers, but indirectly. It is more concerned with Lloyd himself.
And I liked how that differentiated the movie to stand on its own, but unfortunately it did not make the film any better. Yes, this is such a weak film that simply did not deserve an enormous amount of praise that it received from so many reviewers. That level of praise is baffling to me as this picture is so immensely emotional that it becomes unbearable to watch.
I did find the overall premise cliched, but at the same time it had the potential for great dialogue at least, and for the most part the dialogue here wasn’t particularly sophisticated. Rogers invaded his personal space in a very annoying manner which the film only slightly touched upon, but the change in the protagonist wasn’t as believable as they hoped it would be, and simply the constant outpouring of love, compassion and feelings angered me instead of moved me. Maybe I am a cynic, but this particular manipulation is insufferable to me.
Matthew Rhys should be mentioned more when discussing this movie as his performance here is just as great as Tom Hanks’ is. He is believable and the more interesting of the two to follow. Hanks was certainly typecast, but he did a terrific job per usual as this type of role fits him like a glove.
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood has its interesting touches and scenes here and there, but most of it is overly straightforward, tired and not that cinematic as well. Marielle Heller in particular disappointed me the most as her previous movies – ‘The Diary of a Teenage Girl’ and ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ – were infinitely better.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood features a very strong Matthew Rhys performance and Tom Hanks, albeit typecast, is reliably terrific. The film has its interesting scenes here and there, but for the most part the constant outpouring of love and emotion angered me more than it moved me. I may be a cold bastard, but this level of emotional excess was way too much for me to handle. What is the most disappointing with this particular product is Marielle Heller’s direction as she seriously dropped the ball here after two stellar previous efforts.
