Village Vidiot

Thousands of brief movie reviews from decades of film watching from a guy who loves the cinema.

Menu
  • About
Menu

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Posted on July 18, 2020July 21, 2020 by Village Vidiot

“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” July 18, 2020 (2019), DVD.  I was in great need of something that was essentially nice.   Covid induced isolation, concern for my family and friends, and the insanity of racist violence and Donald Trump destroying the nation are not making me crave films that feed my anxiety.  I did not want to see something violent, cruel, or nasty.  This certainly fit that bill.  Tom Hanks stars and really is very good as Fred Rogers in this surprisingly well-written and -directed story of redemption.  No, not Mr. Rogers’ redemption.  This is about Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), cynical Esquire magazine feature writer and hatchet man, at war with the world and, shock, his dad (Chris Cooper), and at risk of screwing up his marriage to Susan Kalechi Watson and his own kid.  He is sent off to do a feature on Mr. Rogers.  Yes, it’s predictable and very sentimental, but it also works.  See it paired with the documentary on Fred Rogers, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”  If, like me, you see it on DVD and not streamed, be sure to see the attached features, if only to catch Hanks’/Rogers’ response to not being able to zip up his cardigan sweater.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Red, White and Blue
  • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • Lovers Rock
  • Mangrove
  • Mank

Recent Comments

  • Village Vidiot on Marriage Story
  • Village Vidiot on Marriage Story
  • Village Vidiot on A Time to Kill
  • Village Vidiot on Marriage Story
  • Village Vidiot on Marriage Story

Archives

Categories

  • Film Reviews

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org
© 2021 Village Vidiot | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes