A Beautiful day In The Neighbourhood. (15.)
Directed by Marielle Heller.
Starring Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Susan Kelechi Watson, Wendy Makkena, Chris Cooper and Tammy Blanchard. Available for digital download from May 25th. Streaming from June 8th. 109 mins.
Though his niceness is often held against him, the ability to play decency and goodness authentically really sets Hanks apart. His total lack of edge, in a culture that now lauds edginess above all else, is something to celebrate really. But even he can't deal with playing a saint.
American children's TV institution Mr Roger's Neighbourhood was like Michael Bentine's Potty Time presented by Mahatma Gandhi. There would be puppets and miniature landscapes presided over by Fred Roger (Hanks) who at the start of each show would come in through the set's front door, change out of his jacket and shoes into a cardigan and slippers and tell all the children about how special they were just as they were. And the truly special thing was that the TV Fred Roger was the real Fred Roger, just as kindly and selfless as his image.
Aside from arriving barely a year after the release of the documentary about him, Won't You Be My Neighbor? (a surprise hit in the States) the film's biggest problem is, of course, nobody in this country knowing who he was. We have no cherished childhood memories of him, and therefore nothing to counteract the image of him that comes across in this film which is, frankly, a bit creepy. Rogers thanks people for the slightest little thing, is so considerate it is almost suffocating and is almost oppressively selfless.
Hanks is very good as Rogers, but he's an unbearable character. In Forrest Gump, the character's simpleton innocence was set against the horrors of the second half of the 20th century and his triumphs were cruel black comic twists of fate for everybody else. Mr Rogers though is a Dr Benjamin Spock imagined as a fairy godmother. Only in the very finsla shot is there some fleeting suggestion of the effort needed to sustain it, and the possible toll it took.
Another issue is that this film about Mr Rogers, isn't actually about Mr Rogers, as was indicated by Hanks nomination for a best-supporting actor Oscar. The focus of the film is an angry, cynical Esquire writer, Lloyd Vogel (Rhys) who is estranged from his father (Cooper) and is sent to interview Rogers. You soon come to resent the time spent with him and his family. In Apocalypse Now, Willard isn't as interesting a figure as Kurtz, but he his quest is compelling and we accept him as the cypher through which we learn about Kurtz; Vogel just catches the bus from New York to Pittsburgh, where Rogers makes his show. The drama of the piece is established early on: will Rogers passive-aggressively bully the journo into reconciling with his father? This is a not a satisfying way to learn about Rogers, it diminishes his dramatic potential.
So, if you have humanity in you, won't you join me neighbour in siding with the journo and hoping that he can hold on to his anger, refuse to express his feelings and not end up telling his dad he loves him?
Directed by Marielle Heller.
Starring Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys, Susan Kelechi Watson, Wendy Makkena, Chris Cooper and Tammy Blanchard. Available for digital download from May 25th. Streaming from June 8th. 109 mins.
Though his niceness is often held against him, the ability to play decency and goodness authentically really sets Hanks apart. His total lack of edge, in a culture that now lauds edginess above all else, is something to celebrate really. But even he can't deal with playing a saint.
American children's TV institution Mr Roger's Neighbourhood was like Michael Bentine's Potty Time presented by Mahatma Gandhi. There would be puppets and miniature landscapes presided over by Fred Roger (Hanks) who at the start of each show would come in through the set's front door, change out of his jacket and shoes into a cardigan and slippers and tell all the children about how special they were just as they were. And the truly special thing was that the TV Fred Roger was the real Fred Roger, just as kindly and selfless as his image.
Aside from arriving barely a year after the release of the documentary about him, Won't You Be My Neighbor? (a surprise hit in the States) the film's biggest problem is, of course, nobody in this country knowing who he was. We have no cherished childhood memories of him, and therefore nothing to counteract the image of him that comes across in this film which is, frankly, a bit creepy. Rogers thanks people for the slightest little thing, is so considerate it is almost suffocating and is almost oppressively selfless.
Hanks is very good as Rogers, but he's an unbearable character. In Forrest Gump, the character's simpleton innocence was set against the horrors of the second half of the 20th century and his triumphs were cruel black comic twists of fate for everybody else. Mr Rogers though is a Dr Benjamin Spock imagined as a fairy godmother. Only in the very finsla shot is there some fleeting suggestion of the effort needed to sustain it, and the possible toll it took.
Another issue is that this film about Mr Rogers, isn't actually about Mr Rogers, as was indicated by Hanks nomination for a best-supporting actor Oscar. The focus of the film is an angry, cynical Esquire writer, Lloyd Vogel (Rhys) who is estranged from his father (Cooper) and is sent to interview Rogers. You soon come to resent the time spent with him and his family. In Apocalypse Now, Willard isn't as interesting a figure as Kurtz, but he his quest is compelling and we accept him as the cypher through which we learn about Kurtz; Vogel just catches the bus from New York to Pittsburgh, where Rogers makes his show. The drama of the piece is established early on: will Rogers passive-aggressively bully the journo into reconciling with his father? This is a not a satisfying way to learn about Rogers, it diminishes his dramatic potential.
So, if you have humanity in you, won't you join me neighbour in siding with the journo and hoping that he can hold on to his anger, refuse to express his feelings and not end up telling his dad he loves him?
