[Review] A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (7.5/10)

Title - A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
Studio - Sony Pictures
Starring - Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Enrico Colantoni
Writer - Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster
Director - Marielle Heller
Release - 22 November 2019

I didn't buy Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers ever since the trailers came out. Even though I didn't grow up with Mr. Rogers, I saw that documentary and had a sense of who he was.

Just physically I knew the casting could have gone another way. But then I also reserved my judgement for until I have seen Hanks' portrayal in the spiritual sense.

And therein layed Hanks' genius. While Hanks may be taller because he looked taller, and his mannerism seemed to have come with more force than the gentleness that was inherent of Mr. Rogers; Hanks acted the heck out of this movie. The way Mr. Rogers could make you feel through the television screen was what Hanks did through the cinema screen.

But while that documentary was so powerful because it captured Mr. Rogers' progression in fighting for what he believed, this movie didn't go that route because the main focus was on Matthew Rhys' character. And how Mr. Rogers helped him in that period of time in his life.

And every time Hanks wasn't onscreen and the focus was on Rhys' life with his father, I didn't care that much. And it wasn't because of Rhys nor Cooper's performance, but the subject matter seemed forced into the story and the fictional overpowered the reality of what was factual.

But as performances go, I could make an argument for Rhys to get a Best Actor nomination alongside Hanks' Best Supporting. I thought both gave beautiful performances to sell the story and they sold the movie better than the written words.