Based upon the Esquire magazine article "Can You Say...Hero?" by Tom Junod
Screenplay Written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster
Directed by Marielle Heller
**** (four stars)
RATED PG
I have to say that I was very unsure about the purpose of making this film.
Before any of you dear readers begin to raise any sense of ire, please allow me to explain. You see, with regards to the life, work and teaching of Fred Rogers, I truly felt that as far as having a film was concerned, that feat was already beautifully achieved just one year ago with Director Morgan Neville's remarkable, enlightening and resoundingly emotional documentary "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" (2018), a film I listed near the very top upon my Top Ten Favorite Films of 2018.
When I had first read that a new film, a dramatic narrative feature film starring Tom Hanks as the beloved Mr. Rogers would be made, I was admittedly unsure. For as much as the casting felt to be perfect, I wasn't sure if we necessarily needed this film since the documentary had just arrived and truly seemed to fill that specific space. Would a film about Mr. Rogers starring Tom Hanks be remotely as effective or would it just exist as trite, Oscar bait?
With the arrival of Director Marielle Heller's "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood," my questions have been answered and beautifully so. Not only is Heller's film vital and resonant, therefore making its existence necessary, it is a film that works exquisitely in tandem with the documentary while also existing as its own confident cinematic experience. Beyond that, it is a gentle, deeply empathetic and quietly wonderful film that truly feels as if Fred Rogers had written it himself as it, again, feels to be conceived in the fullness of his generous spirit.
Fashioned and structured as if we are watching an episode of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," Marielle Heller's "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood" opens just as the television program, with visions of the toy buildings, streets and cars leading into the house where Mr. Rogers (Tom Hanks) arrives and enters, singing his treasured theme song ad changing from his street clothes into more comfortable sweater and sneakers.
From this point, we are son introduced to the character of Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), an award winning journalist for Esquire magazine, who is currently in the throes of a deep internal crisis. Married to public attorney Andrea Vogel (a warmly rich Susan Kelechi Watson) and an ambivalent new Dad to their son Gavin, Lloyd, despite his good fortune, is miserable, sardonic, has slowly begun to amass a dark reputation as an embittered writer.
Lloyd reaches his critical point while attending his sister's wedding, when he is surprised by the arrival of his long estranged Father, Jerry (Chris Cooper), whose philandering and alcoholism forever damaged the family. The reunion quickly leads to a fistfight. Further attempts from Jerry to reconcile are met with intense refusal. And rapidly, Lloyd's anger, resentment and inability to forgive begins to overtake his spirit.
By either fate, design (or maybe even some divine intervention, perhaps?), Lloyd is soon instructed by Ellen, his friend and Editor (Christine Lahti) to meet, interview ans write a profile about Fred Rogers for the magazine's special celebration of real life heroes, assignment Lloyd meets with reluctance and skepticism.
And then, Lloyd meets Fred Rogers and their first brief interview tentatively leads to becoming a dialogue which then becomes a new foundation for Lloyd to begin the process of reconciling himself with his past, his present and his Father.
Marielle Heller's "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood" is truly a lovely, deceptively "little" film that does indeed carry quite a large reach. It is an aesthetic triumph certainly as the meticulous work from Production Designer Jade Healy, which is lovingly established via all of the miniature sets to the full recreation of the entire "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" television experience--from the stage sets, television studio design and of course, all of the elements within the Land Of Make Believe--is instantly recognizable, immersive and unquestionably worthy of any awards season attention.
As previously stated, Heller stages and sequences the film as if it we are watching an extended episode of the television series, from the transitions to even occasional digressions from the film's main plotline, as just like the original series, when Mr. Rogers would presents some filmed sequence of something that is clearly of interest to himself that he wishes to share with all of us. In the case of this film, we are given a sequence with a string quartet on stage, for instance. It is a sequence that does nothing to drive the story but exists as a means of allowing us a time to pause, to intake, to engage and enjoy with the inherent beauty of regarding musicians creating and Mr. Rogers, like ourselves, happily lost in the act of listening.
For all of the acknowledgments "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood" has already received from critics and viewers who have remarked that the kindness displayed throughout the film is a perfect antidote to the rampant venom and vitriol that is marking our societal and even spiritual decay in the 21st century, to which I agree, I think the film succeeds in also strongly feel that what Heller has achieved so beautifully is to display how much could be gained if we all honestly took the time to devote ourselves to the act of listening to one another.
Like our central figure of Fred Rogers, Heller's film is a patient, thoughtful, often very quiet film that is in no hurry and is so wisely understated, understanding that all of the drama is inherent and does not need to be pushed. Yet, as a stand-in for the audience, the character of Lloyd is absolutely perfect as a representation of what it feels like to grow and age in an increasingly anxious world while still feeling like who we once were as small children, people still so very much in need of support, guidance, empathy and just having our deepest feelings and fears acknowledged and understood by someone...anyone.
While Tom Hanks is obviously receiving all of the attention for his performance (more on that shortly), I think the star of the film is indeed Matthew Rhys, whose journey from cynic to someone more compassionate, while more than familiar, is one that unfolds in this film with such grace, gentleness and an uncanny touch of soul that speaks directly to the existential crisis that is housed inside all of us.
All of us carry our own share of baggage. All of us, at one point or another, have felt ourselves to being broken. While Heller does utilize some surreal touches to illustrate Lloyd's inner crisis, what I loved was how she, and therefore, Rhys work with quiet and silence, allowing us the time and space to engage with or inner spirit just as the character is performing for himself...and only because Mr. Rogers has taken the time and effort to engage, to listen, to feel, and to provide comfort just by being so present.
Lloyd's pregnant pauses in his conversations with Mr. Rogers are our own pregnant pauses. When Mr. Rogers asks of Lloyd to take one full minute to go into the silence of himself and think about all of the people in his life who have each contributed into making Lloyd the man that he is, Heller and Rhys perform the remarkable feat of having all sound drop away and let the film exist in pure silence and we regard the man internally taking stock of his life in real time...just as we are performing for ourselves in the audience.
As for Tom Hanks, the excellence of his performance is extends far beyond imitation, even though his interpretation is often eerie in its perfection of the real Fred Rogers' vocal mannerisms and physicality. Hanks somehow has found a way to embody Fred Rogers from the inside out, and especially strong accomplishment due partially to the iconic status of this figure and partially due to the fact that this film is not a biographical drama or necessarily even about Fred Rogers in the first place.
For as much as we witness Fred Rogers' relationship with Lloyd as one where Lloyd is the beneficiary of Rogers' kindness and counseling, Tom Hanks ensures that Fred Rogers is always presented as human while most people may view him as a saint. In doing so, we witness moments when Rogers is visibly thankful that he himself is a person who wishes to be as seen just as anyone else in the world.
I enjoyed a scene during the creation of an episode during which Mr. Rogers is planning to erect a tent, a task which ultimately proves unsuccessful and even frustrating. As his television crew questions whether he wishes to re-take the scene, Fred Rogers demurs and says that it is better to show his audience of children how sometimes things do not go as planned and how we figure out ways to overcome failure. On a larger scale, when Lloyd genuinely suggests to Rogers that being the person and public media figure he is must carry a significant burden, Fred Rogers' reaction at being seen, honestly seen is enlightening in its graciousness and gratefulness.
With Tom Hanks' performance, we witness that even as he aids Lloyd and his beloved audience of children, he subtlety illustrates that the act of being "Mr. Rogers" to the world while living life as Mr. Rogers must have taken its toll on some level, making him a figure who was always, and crucially, one of the rest of us. A person who never spoke down to anyone because, quite possibly, he was always speaking to himself along with us every single time, illustrated beautifully by Heller as she focuses her camera upon Mr. Rogers singing and puppetering out of view instead of his puppet creation Daniel Tiger during a Land Of Make Believe segment.
Marielle Heller's "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood" is a film that works as the gentlest and all inclusive Sunday service sermon. There is no proselytizing or any stitch of dogma. Just genuine care and concern and love for one's fellow human being, all of whom are just trying to get by day-by-day.
As evidenced in Fred Rogers' painfully, gorgeously fragile musical composition entitled "Am I A Mistake?," a sentiment that we all harbor as we try to understand our own existence, Heller's film exists not solely as a tribute to Mr. Fred Rogers, but as a work that provides us the warmest, strongest embrace and the most sympathetic set of ears in these very dark times in which we live.
No comments:
Post a Comment