The film begins with a remake of the opening sequence of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) then talks about how Esquire magazine journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is known for his cynical writing. Then, Mr. McFeely (Daniel Krell) shows up and gives Rogers a film on how Esquire magazines are made. Lloyd is reluctant to go to his sister Lorraine's third wedding because his estranged father Jerry (Chris Cooper) will be there, but he attends with his wife Andrea, and their newborn son, Gavin. When Jerry makes an insensitive remark about Lloyd's deceased mother Lila (who he cheated on and abandoned when she was dying of cancer twenty years earlier), Lloyd becomes furious and punches his father, starting a chaotic fight in which another guest breaks his nose.
When Lloyd's editor, Ellen (Christine Lahti), assigns him to interview Fred Rogers for a 400-word article about heroes, Lloyd feels the assignment is beneath him. However, he is informed that none of the other heroes on the list were willing to be interviewed. At the studio of WQED in Pittsburgh, Rogers is dismissive of his own fame and shows concern for Lloyd's nose injury. With coaxing, Lloyd relates some issues he has with his father, including his father's apology and attempt at reconciliation, which Lloyd has rebuffed. Rogers tells Lloyd how he deals with anger, including striking the keys of a piano. Meanwhile, Lloyd Vogel is determined to expose Fred Rogers' friendly persona, and thinks it is all an act. When he goes to see him, Lloyd asks Rogers all kinds of questions, and Rogers dodges most of them. He reminisces about raising his two sons instead. Lloyd doesn't get the information he's looking for. Meanwhile, Jerry and his new wife Dorothy arrive at Lloyd's house while he is talking with Andrea. They have a tense conversation about Jerry's self-development since he was gone during Lila's battle with cancer. As Lloyd relays how his mother suffered with just him and his sister there, Jerry has a heart attack and is taken to the hospital. Lloyd wants to see Rogers, possibly to get help from him. Although Andrea objects, Lloyd travels to Pittsburgh to be with Rogers. Upon arrival, he envisions himself as a guest on the show, exhausted, and with Rogers asking him about hospitals. During one of his dreams, he sees Lila, who reminds him that he doesn't need to remember her.
After Lloyd was injured in a fight with Jerry, Rogers and his wife, Joanne (Maryanne Plunkett), took Lloyd to their home to recuperate. While there, Rogers encouraged Lloyd to think about the people who loved him and to forgive Jerry. Rogers also told Lloyd that he was not alone and that he was loved. Lloyd visited Jerry and Dorothy at their home, where he learned that Jerry was dying of cardiac stenosis. Lloyd realized that Jerry's attempt to reconnect was because he knew he was dying. Lloyd forgave Jerry, promising to be a better father, and wrote an article about Rogers' impact on his life. Dorothy believed that Jerry's illness may have contributed to his decision to reconnect with his family. Lorraine and her husband Todd visited Jerry with their friend Rogers. Before Rogers left, he asked Jerry to pray with him. Shortly after the visit, Jerry died. Lloyd's 10,000-word article, "Can You Say... Hero?" was published as Esquire's cover story. The final scene in the film shows Fred Rogers on set. He sings "It’s Such a Good Feeling", takes off his sneakers, cardigan zipper sweater, and then he puts his coat back on. He walks out the door and says, "See you next time." Then the scene is replayed. The final shot shows Rogers turning off the TV to end the show. Fred Rogers starts to play the piano. He stops and strikes a few keys in frustration. Then, he plays the piano again.
Matthew Rhys as Lloyd Vogel: A cynical journalist who is assigned to profile Fred Rogers for the magazine Esquire. Lloyd is based loosely on journalist Tom Junod, whose encounter with Rogers was adapted into the film. Director Marielle Heller described Lloyd as the viewer's "entry point into Fred's teachings" and expressed hope that Lloyd's character development and growth as a new father would compel viewers to reflect upon themselves.[5]
Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers: The creator and host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. To prepare for his role, Hanks visited the Fred Rogers Center at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, for research in the Fred Rogers Archives[6] and also watched Won't You Be My Neighbor?, a 2018 documentary film. At the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Hanks recalled watching "hundreds of hours" of footage of Rogers on set and behind the scenes in order to get into character.[7] Heller noted that Rogers "doesn't have the dynamic nature you need for a protagonist for a movie" and considered him "the antagonist [...] who comes into someone's life and flips it upside down through his philosophy and the way he lived his life".[5]
Susan Kelechi Watson as Andrea Vogel: A public attorney, Lloyd's wife, and a fan of Rogers' show. Watson, herself a fan of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, described her character as a "career woman" who faces unique challenges of patience and adaptation as the mother of a newborn.[8]
Chris Cooper as Jerry Vogel: Lloyd's estranged father and a philanderer who cheated on his dying wife Lila and abandoned Lloyd and Lorraine when they were children. In a press interview for the film, Cooper described his character as "multidimensional" and compared filming a scene with Hanks to seeing the "eyes of God".[9]
Enrico Colantoni as Bill Isler: The President & CEO of Family Communications. In a radio interview, Colantoni said he became friends with the real Bill Isler while filming and described his character as having been "so important to Fred".[11]
Wendy Makkena as Dorothy Vogel: Jerry's second wife. Makkena described her character as part of Vogel's "dysfunctional, complicated family".[12]
Tammy Blanchard as Lorraine Vogel: Lloyd's sister and Todd's wife.
Noah Harpster as Todd: Lorraine's husband and Lloyd's brother-in-law.
Additional cast members include Carmen Cusack as Margy, a producer of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood; Jessica Hecht as Lila Vogel, Lloyd's late mother and Jerry's ex-wife; Maddie Corman as Betty Aberlin, an actress starring as Lady Aberlin on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood; Daniel Krell as Mr. McFeely; and Jordan, Naomi, and Zoey Harsh as Gavin Vogel, Lloyd's son.[13]
Notable cameos in the film include Rogers' wife Joanne, Mr. McFeely actor David Newell, Family Communications head Bill Isler, and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood producer Margy Whitmer[14] who appear as customers in a restaurant that Rogers and Lloyd meet in. Arsenio Hall and Oprah Winfrey make uncredited appearances in archive footage of talk shows that Lloyd watches in the film, and Fred Rogers appears in archive footage of his show during the ending credits, singing the song "You've Got to Do It".
Production
Development
On January 29, 2018, it was announced that Sony's TriStar Pictures had bought the worldwide distribution rights to the film You Are My Friend, a biographical film based on a 1998 Esquire magazine article about television personality Fred Rogers, who would be played by Tom Hanks.[15] The script by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster appeared on the 2013 Black List of best unproduced screenplays. It would be directed by Marielle Heller; its producers would be Big Beach's Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf along with Youree Henley.[15]
Principal photography began on September 10, 2018, in Pittsburgh, with several sets converted into New York City.[21] Filming also took place in the Fred Rogers Studio at WQED (TV) where the late television host recorded Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. The crew consulted with original crew members from Rogers' television series, and brought in the same cameras and monitors used in the original production.[22] The film received tax credits of approximately $9.5 million against a production budget of $45 million for filming in Pittsburgh.[23] Production wrapped on November 9, 2018.[citation needed]
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2019.[25] It was originally going to be released on October 18, 2019, by Sony Pictures Releasing,[26] but in May 2018, it was announced that the release would be pushed back a month to November 22, 2019.[27] It was released in China on September 18, 2020, after the country reopened theaters following COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.[28]
Marketing
The film's title was announced on December 27, 2018.[29] The trailer was released on July 22, 2019.[30]
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood grossed $61.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $68.4 million, against a production budget of $25 million.[3][2]
In the United States and Canada, it was released alongside Frozen II and 21 Bridges, and was projected to gross around $15 million from 3,231 theaters in its opening weekend.[32] It made $4.5 million on its first day, including $900,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $13.3 million, finishing third at the box office.[33][34] It fell just 11% in its second weekend, making $11.8 million and finishing fifth, and remained in fifth place the following weekend with $5.2 million.[35][36]
Critical response
Tom Hanks (pictured in 2019) was praised by critics for his performance as Fred Rogers
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 372 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Much like the beloved TV personality that inspired it, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood offers a powerfully affecting message about acceptance and understanding."[37] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 50 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[38] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an average four out of five stars, with 66% saying they would definitely recommend it.[34]
Steve Pond of TheWrap wrote: "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood finds a gentle state of grace and shows the courage and smarts to stay in that zone, never rushing things or playing for drama... But just as Mr. Rogers used his show to talk about big issues with children in a tone that was softer and more halting than you'd expect given the subject matter, so does Heller stick to understatement in a way that threatens to become dull or sappy but never does."[39] Benjamin Lee of The Guardian wrote: "It's a given that Hanks will nab at least a best supporting actor nomination but it would be all too easy to forget his co-star. The cynic-becomes-a-believer arc is age old but it unfolds here without cliche thanks to an emotionally intelligent script from Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue, but mainly because of a marvelous, prickly turn from Rhys."[40]
Armond White of the National Review was more critical: "Heller and screenwriters Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster don't show enough faith in Rogers' remedies—and not enough interest in their religious origins. In short, the movie seems wary of faith (it briefly mentions that Rogers was an ordained minister) and settles for secular sentimentality to account for his sensibility and behavior. This not only weakens the film, but it also hobbles Hanks's characterization."[41]
