A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a 2019 American drama film directed by Marielle Heller and written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, inspired by the 1998 article "Can You Say ... Hero?" by Tom Junod, published in Esquire. The film stars Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Susan Kelechi Watson, and Chris Cooper. It depicts Lloyd Vogel (Rhys), a journalist for Esquire who is assigned to profile beloved television icon Fred Rogers (Hanks).
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMarielle HellerProduced by
Youree Henley
Peter Saraf
Marc Turtletaub
Leah Holzer
Written by
Micah Fitzerman-Blue
Noah Harpster
Based on"Can You Say... Hero?"
by Tom JunodStarring
Tom Hanks
Matthew Rhys
Susan Kelechi Watson
Chris Cooper
Music byNate HellerCinematographyJody Lee LipesEdited byAnne McCabe
Production
company
TriStar Pictures
Tencent Pictures
Big Beach
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
September 7, 2019 (TIFF)
November 22, 2019 (United States)
Running time
107 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget$25 millionBox office$13.5 million
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The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 22, 2019, by Sony Pictures Releasing. It received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $13 million.
Plot
Lloyd Vogel, an Esquire journalist who recently won a national award for his writing, attends his sister Lorraine's wedding with his wife Andrea and newborn son Gavin. During the reception, he starts a fistfight with his father Jerry when Jerry taunts him over his family. The next day, Lloyd's editor Ellen assigns him to interview Fred Rogers for a 400-word article about heroes, and after a phone call with Rogers, Lloyd travels to the WQED studio in Pittsburgh to interview him. During the interview, Rogers is dismissive of his fame and displays concern for Lloyd's nose injury, learning of his grudge against Jerry after several questions he directs to Lloyd. Meanwhile, Jerry apologizes to Lloyd for the fight, but Lloyd rebuffs Jerry's attempt at reconciliation.
Determined to find that Rogers' nice attitude is just an act, Lloyd watches several of Rogers' talks and episodes from his show, but cannot find anything. When Rogers visits New York City, Lloyd visits him in his hotel for another interview. During the interview, Rogers dodges Lloyd's questions and reminisces upon raising his two sons, provoking Lloyd into leaving. Lloyd returns home to find Andrea making dinner for Jerry and his girlfriend Dorothy; Lloyd berates Jerry for cheating on his mother Lila while she was dying of cancer and orders him to leave, but Jerry suffers a heart attack and is transported to a hospital. Andrea attempts to convince Lloyd to stay in the hospital overnight with Jerry and Dorothy, but Lloyd refuses and follows Rogers to his Pittsburgh studio, where he collapses on the set of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe out of exhaustion. Lloyd dreams about his repressed childhood trauma; in his dream, he stumbles into an episode of Rogers' show about hospitals, finds himself wearing rabbit ears and shrunk down to the size of Daniel Striped Tiger and King Friday XIII while Rogers and Andrea tower over him, and visits a dying Lila, who urges him to release his anger.
Rogers and his crew surround the unconscious Lloyd, and he and his wife Joanne bring Lloyd to their home. After Lloyd awakens, he and Rogers visit a restaurant, where Rogers asks Lloyd to spend one minute thinking of the people who "loved him into being" and encourages him to forgive Jerry. Lloyd apologizes to Andrea for leaving her and Gavin at the hospital and visits Jerry and Dorothy at their home. He learns from Dorothy that Jerry is dying of a prolonged illness, the real reason for Jerry's attempts to reconnect with Lloyd. Lloyd forgives Jerry, promises to be a better father to Gavin, and writes an article about Rogers' impact on his life to complete his assignment from Ellen. Lorraine, her husband Todd, and Rogers visit Jerry, and Rogers asks Jerry to pray for him before he departs. Jerry dies shortly after Rogers' visit and Lloyd's 10,000 word article, titled "Can You Say ... Hero?", is published as Esquire's cover story in its latest issue.
Cast
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 and also watched the 2018 documentary film Won't You Be My Neighbor?. 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. Director Marielle 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".
Matthew Rhys as Lloyd Vogel:
A jaded journalist who is assigned to profile Rogers for the magazine Esquire. Lloyd is based loosely on journalist Tom Junod, whose encounter with Rogers was adapted into the film. 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.
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.
Chris Cooper as Jerry Vogel:
Lloyd's estranged father and a philanderer who cheated on his 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".
Additional cast members include Enrico Colantoni as Bill Isler, the President & CEO of Family Communications; Maryann Plunkett as Joanne Rogers, Fred's wife; Tammy Blanchard as Lorraine, Lloyd's sister and Todd's wife; Wendy Makkena as Dorothy, Jerry's girlfriend; Carmen Cusack as Margy, a producer of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood; Jessica Hecht as Lila Vogel, Lloyd's mother and Jerry's ex-wife; Noah Harpster as Todd, Lorraine's husband and Lloyd's brother-in-law; Maddie Corman as Betty Aberlin, an actress starring as Lady Aberlin on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood; Christine Lahti as Ellen, Lloyd's editor; and Jordan, Naomi, and Zoey Harsh as Gavin Vogel, Lloyd's son.
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, who appear as customers in a restaurant that Rogers and Lloyd meet in; Fred Rogers makes an uncredited appearance in archive footage of his show during the ending credits, singing the song "You've Got To Do It".
Production
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. The film's script by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster appeared among the 2013 Black List of best unproduced screenplays and it would be directed by Marielle Heller, while producers would be Big Beach's Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf along with Youree Henley.
In July 2018, Matthew Rhys joined the cast of the film to play the journalist Tom Junod, with production set to start in September 2018. In August 2018, Chris Cooper was added to the cast to play Junod's father, and in September, Susan Kelechi Watson was added. In October 2018, Enrico Colantoni, Maryann Plunkett, Tammy Blanchard, Wendy Makkena, Sakina Jaffrey, Carmen Cusack, Harpster and Maddie Corman joined the cast of the film. In 2018, Nate Heller was chosen to score the film.
Principal photography on the film began on September 10, 2018 in Pittsburgh, with several sets converted into New York City. Filming also took place in Fred Rogers Studio at WQED (TV) where the late television host recorded Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel Hill. The crew consulted with original crew members from Rogers' television series and also brought in the same broadcast cameras and monitors used in the original production. The film received tax credits of approximately $9.5 million against a production budget of $45 million for filming in Pittsburgh. Production wrapped on November 9, 2018.
On October 12, 2018, sound mixer James Emswiller had a heart attack and fell from a second-story balcony. He was taken to University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Mercy, where he was pronounced dead.
On December 27, 2018, it was announced the film had been officially titled A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
Marketing
The trailer for the film was released on July 22, 2019.
Release
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2019. The film was originally going to be released on October 18, 2019, by Sony Pictures Releasing, but in May 2018 was pushed back a month to November 22, 2019.
Reception
Box office
In the United States and Canada, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood was released alongside Frozen 2 and 21 Bridges, and was projected to gross around $15 million from 3,231 in its opening weekend. The film made $4.5 million on its first day, including $900,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $13.1 million, finishing third at the box office.
Critical response
The film has received critical acclaim. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 197 reviews, with an average rating of 8.12/10. 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." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an average 4 out of 5 stars, with 66% saying they would definitely recommend it.
See also
Won't You Be My Neighbor?, a documentary about Fred Rogers
References
More information: Tap to expand …
External links
Official website
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood on IMDb
"Can You Say ... Hero?", Esquire Magazine, November 1998
