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Mr. Rogers Movie With Tom Hanks - A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (1 Viewer)

Joe Bryant

Joe Bryant

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Sorry if Honda.

Wanted to open a thread to talk about the Tom Hanks movie - A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood.

Trailer here.

Semi Spoiler - It's different from the fantastic Mr. Rogers documentary. Trailer here. 

In the Tom Hanks movie, Mr. Rogers is more of a supporting character. It's based on Esquire writer Tom Junod and his article from 1998.

Junod's character, Lloyd is the main focus of the story and Mr. Rogers helps him. In doing so, it illustrates the amazingness of Rogers but if you want a movie that's all Mr. Rogers, the documentary is your better bet.

Tom Hanks does an amazing job just as you'd expect. And the story and supporting cast are excellent. 

Wondering if anyone's seen it or has thoughts. 

 
I saw it the other day and I think you encapsulated it well, Joe. It’s certainly not a doc about Mr. Rogers at all, although I do like the way they incorporate him and some of the old characters and sets from the show. 

Hanks is great as always - his Mr. Rogers voice is a slight derivative of his Forrest Gump voice.

IMO Matthew Rhys doesn’t get enough credit here -  he’s an excellent actor himself. Anyone that watched The Americans will probably agree.

 
I love this section of the Tom Junod article:

He is losing, of course. The revolution he started—a half hour a day, five days a week—it wasn't enough, it didn't spread, and so, forced to fight his battles alone, Mister Rogers is losing, as we all are losing. He is losing to it, to our twenty-four-hour-a-day pie fight, to the dizzying cut and the disorienting edit, to the message of fragmentation, to the flicker and pulse and shudder and strobe, to the constant, hivey drone of the electroculture…and yet still he fights, deathly afraid that the medium he chose is consuming the very things he tried to protect: childhood and silence. Yes, at seventy years old and 143 pounds, Mister Rogers still fights, and indeed, early this year, when television handed him its highest honor, he responded by telling television—gently, of course—to just shut up for once, and television listened. He had already won his third Daytime Emmy, and now he went onstage to accept Emmy's Lifetime Achievement Award, and there, in front of all the soap-opera stars and talk-show sinceratrons, in front of all the jutting man-tanned jaws and jutting saltwater bosoms, he made his small bow and said into the microphone, "All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are….Ten seconds of silence." And then he lifted his wrist, and looked at the audience, and looked at his watch, and said softly, "I'll watch the time," and there was, at first, a small whoop from the crowd, a giddy, strangled hiccup of laughter, as people realized that he wasn't kidding, that Mister Rogers was not some convenient eunuch but rather a man, an authority figure who actually expected them to do what he asked…and so they did. One second, two seconds, three seconds…and now the jaws clenched, and the bosoms heaved, and the mascara ran, and the tears fell upon the beglittered gathering like rain leaking down a crystal chandelier, and Mister Rogers finally looked up from his watch and said, "May God be with you" to all his vanquished children.
Click to expand...

 
Took the family last Saturday.  I cried 3 different times.  It was refreshing that there was no "gotcha" moment and also that Mister Rogers faith was treated with respect and honesty.  It's a story of how a truly good man - while admittedly flawed - helped another man work through his crap.  I cried thinking about my relationship with my dad, and with my son.  I cried thinking about my relationship with my wife and the degree to which I do or don't express how I really feel.  And I cried in gratitude for all of the people (including my dad and son and wife) who have loved me and helped me become the person I am.  Hanks is good, Rhys is excellent, and it's a very good, uplifting movie.

 
Went last Sunday to see it. It was very moving. I didn't really watch Mr. Rogers as a kid, but it was very nice to see him represented as he actually was, and not as a facade. I didn't cry, though it got dusty a time or two, and it was fun to travel back to the Land of Make Believe again.

 
zamboni said:
IMO Matthew Rhys doesn’t get enough credit here -  he’s an excellent actor himself. Anyone that watched The Americans will probably agree.
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I haven't seen this movie yet, but I agree that Rhys is a hell of an actor. The Americans is one of my favorite TV shows ever, and he's a big part of that.

 
Joe Bryant said:
And the acceptance speech at the Emmys.
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We linked a lot of the good speeches, including his speech years ago when he was seeking funding in senate testimony (one of my favorites), in this thread.

I agree with a lot of the comments about him in this thread, echoed in that prior thread.  

Also Tom Hanks in an interview recently talked about something he learned from Mr. Rogers and while preparing for this part that has profoundly changed him.  He wakes up every day and reminds himself to WAIT.  Anytime he's interacting with someone he asks himself "Why Am I Talking?"  You can learn so much more from people if you just listen instead. 

Here it is:

While visiting The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Hanks revealed a lesson he learned while portraying Rogers.

"He taught me that listening is a million times more important than talking," said Hanks. "There is an acronym that I've now started using in my own life — W-A-I-T, wait — which stands for 'why am I talking?' You should just sit and start listening to everybody that comes across your way and you'll be amazed at what you learn."
Click to expand...

 
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Joe Bryant said:
In a perfect world, sure.

But that's not the standard I want. I just want us to be cool to each other and not treat people with contempt when we disagree. That's a much lower bar than Mr. Rogers.
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This.  And even though Mr. Rogers is an impossibly high bar for most in today’s world, it’s a shame we don’t have more like him in visible positions in the world to at least be guideposts for others. Maybe you can’t achieve it, but it’s out there, and maybe could help people do better. 
 

Not to mention the assault on children’s senses in media and television today. Poor Fred must be turning over in his grave—he was concerned about cartoons in the 60s.  I long for the days where kids would have just one choice for TV at 6:30am, his shown, with some wholesome time for quiet and reflection.  Kids are surely getting so screwed up. 

 
CurlyNight said:
The free documentary on demand, "Won't You Be My Neighbour" is a great watch. Too bad no one like this exists anymore whose mission is to help kids psychology and even adults.
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Doesn't it seem like there's a demand / desire for it though?

What's gnawing at me is we live in an age where a person can put out their message easier than any time in history. Even though his TV show was low level production, doing something similar on TV was not realistic for the vast majority of people in his day.

In 2019, we all can have our own TV shows on Youtube. 

 
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DallasDMac said:
Unfortunately so, considering most of the people doing so are the last folks you'd want your children to emulate.
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I don't disagree. But it feels like the same scenario Rogers talked about when he turned on his TV and it was all people throwing pies in faces or goofy cartoon violence. 

Seems like there's a similar opportunity now.  

Although I'm likely over simplifying it. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
Doesn't it seem like there's a demand / desire for it though?

What's gnawing at me is we live in an age where a person can put out their message easier than any time in history. Even though his TV show was low level production, doing something similar on TV was not realistic for the vast majority of people in his day.

In 2019, we all can have our own TV shows on Youtube. 
Click to expand...
I think hate and divisiveness is worse than it was back then. Mr Rogers was ahead of his time. Nowadays to me it seems people feel they are on their own even if they are not. The hurt and anger seem worse to me. I was bullied bad but it's not as bad as what can be done nowadays. And the guy in the white house is definitely not helping. What progress was made has all but been undone. There is a lot of rebuilding to do and with how matters are now, it may be a bit out of reach. 

 
One of several movies I still want to see from this fall-winter. What an incredible year for movies, a huge comeback year. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
I don't disagree. But it feels like the same scenario Rogers talked about when he turned on his TV and it was all people throwing pies in faces or goofy cartoon violence. 

Seems like there's a similar opportunity now.  

Although I'm likely over simplifying it. 
Click to expand...
could you imagine the attempts to ruin his career or ruin his reputation in today's society...

 
Stoneys said:
could you imagine the attempts to ruin his career or ruin his reputation in today's society...
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I do wonder about stuff like that. Or what would happen for someone trying to do something similar today. I want to believe one could handle it. 

Assuming there truly weren't any legit skeletons in the closet.

I think it's where transparency would be a be a factor. And owning mistakes. 

I think for instance, If I were to try and do something like this and a critic might dig up an old post from the Political forum and say, "Look, he hosted a site where this kind of hateful speech was allowed to exist", that could be a real thing. I'd hope I'd be able to counter it with "We live in the real world. And we did our best to do the right thing" type answer. 

I don't know. I hate to think we're at a place where there aren't any people left that could handle people trying to drag them down. 

 
My wife ended up seeing this a week ago-ish when another movie was already sold out. Didn't really know a lot about the movie plot before going - highly enjoyed the movie. Very well done and a pretty interesting way to get a glimpse of what Mister Rogers was about/like without it being focused specifically on him. Well worth the time to watch it, IMO. 

 
Joe Bryant said:
I do wonder about stuff like that. Or what would happen for someone trying to do something similar today. I want to believe one could handle it. 

Assuming there truly weren't any legit skeletons in the closet.

I think it's where transparency would be a be a factor. And owning mistakes. 

I think for instance, If I were to try and do something like this and a critic might dig up an old post from the Political forum and say, "Look, he hosted a site where this kind of hateful speech was allowed to exist", that could be a real thing. I'd hope I'd be able to counter it with "We live in the real world. And we did our best to do the right thing" type answer. 

I don't know. I hate to think we're at a place where there aren't any people left that could handle people trying to drag them down. 
Click to expand...
I think they kind of touched on this in a couple of interesting ways in the movie. Mild spoilers below


One was when they were talking about his relationship with his sons and he says something like "no, I wasn't always perfect" and proceeds to share that he had rocky times with his kids - that at least one of them didn't tell people that Mister Rogers was his dad for a long time

Another was Rogers talking about banging a piano has a way to let out some frustrations and then at/near the end he is hitting the keys.
I'd hope there isn't any "major incidents" from his past, but I'd imagine in the world of today, we would (unfortunately) likely know too much about Mister Roger's "humanness" and whatever the "secrets" are in regards to his rocky past with his kids. That could really be just about anything - my kids have nothing "real" to complain about but I've had periods with both of them where it's been pretty ugly - there's a funny/not funny story where my younger daughter stormed into the house when we got home, slammed the door on me before I got in and screamed something to my wife about "THAT MAN YOU MARRIED". It kind of cracks me up today but it was far from my finest moment of parenting that led up to that event. 



 
Joe Bryant said:
I don't know. I hate to think we're at a place where there aren't any people left that could handle people trying to drag them down. 
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I would like to believe that he could navigate these waters pretty well. His message was nothing about being "perfect" or anything like that. His show tackled a lot of very tough subjects over the years. It definitely would be different today because of the visibility but (assuming no real skeletons as you mention), I feel pretty good about his ability to handle any criticism that might come his way. I did a little reading about the actual article right after seeing the movie - the fact that he was willing to work with a guy whose reputation was about digging up dirt on people speaks to that pretty strongly - if that makes sense. 

 
Otis said:
This.  And even though Mr. Rogers is an impossibly high bar for most in today’s world, it’s a shame we don’t have more like him in visible positions in the world to at least be guideposts for others. Maybe you can’t achieve it, but it’s out there, and maybe could help people do better. 
 

Not to mention the assault on children’s senses in media and television today. Poor Fred must be turning over in his grave—he was concerned about cartoons in the 60s.  I long for the days where kids would have just one choice for TV at 6:30am, his shown, with some wholesome time for quiet and reflection.  Kids are surely getting so screwed up. 
Click to expand...
I grew up watching "The Andy Griffin Show".  Doesn't get much better than that IMO.

 
Joe Bryant said:
I do wonder about stuff like that. Or what would happen for someone trying to do something similar today. I want to believe one could handle it. 

Assuming there truly weren't any legit skeletons in the closet.

I think it's where transparency would be a be a factor. And owning mistakes. 

I think for instance, If I were to try and do something like this and a critic might dig up an old post from the Political forum and say, "Look, he hosted a site where this kind of hateful speech was allowed to exist", that could be a real thing. I'd hope I'd be able to counter it with "We live in the real world. And we did our best to do the right thing" type answer. 

I don't know. I hate to think we're at a place where there aren't any people left that could handle people trying to drag them down. 
Click to expand...
I think Mr. Rogers could handle it.  But, I also believe that he was that rare person.  My comments are more as to how we, as a society, could not or cannot accept that someone could be good and kind like he was.  We would be looking for that one instance. 

 
Stoneys said:
I think Mr. Rogers could handle it.  But, I also believe that he was that rare person.  My comments are more as to how we, as a society, could not or cannot accept that someone could be good and kind like he was.  We would be looking for that one instance. 
Click to expand...
I hear you. 

I think the answer is do really good stuff and be as transparent as you can. I think most people see things for what they are.

 
Having grown up watching him I can't watch any of these without balling like a toddler. To the point where its almost unbearable to watch. I probably cried though more than half of the documentary. 

Ill catch it when it makes it to the small screen. :cry:  

 
CurlyNight said:
I think hate and divisiveness is worse than it was back then. Mr Rogers was ahead of his time. Nowadays to me it seems people feel they are on their own even if they are not. The hurt and anger seem worse to me. I was bullied bad but it's not as bad as what can be done nowadays. And the guy in the white house is definitely not helping. What progress was made has all but been undone. There is a lot of rebuilding to do and with how matters are now, it may be a bit out of reach. 
Click to expand...
Nothing is ever out of reach. It is up to us as human beings to be excellent to each other. Some do. Some don't. We must raise and guide are children as best as we can. It is always a struggle. This has been the struggle of mankind since the beginning of time. The only thing that has changed imo is how fast the delivery of information has become. It is a blessing and a curse.

Teaching our children the right way to process the information is what will ultimately decide our fate as a species. Being a great parent is the toughest job on the face of the earth. I think about this everyday while raising my son. I try to set the right example, but I also need to teach him good and evil, right and wrong and what is happening today IMO is a product of lazy parenting. Just over the top bad parenting coupled with such easy access to content at your fingertips.

The only thing we can do is communicate to each other as best as we can. And right now there is a massive communication breakdown in our society and lack of accountability. Everyone seems to always look to place blame.....instead of looking to solve problems. 

I hope we can persevere. I think we can. But ultimately we have to slow down, and start talking again. Not screaming, not proving I am right and you are wrong. Coming together and working together. Meeting in the middle.

A lost art in our world.

I am married now over 20 years. And when people ask me how have you had such a great marriage it is quite simple. 

1. Mutual Respect

2. Great Communication

3. Compromise

Why can't our leaders follow this simple model? 

And yes I watched Mr Rogers as a small child along with Sesame Street and The Electric Company. Those were great times in the early and mid 70's being a small kid. Our imaginations were flying.

 
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