Who doesn’t love Mister Rogers? I don’t think there are many people who have one bad thing to say about the man. But A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood isn’t completely about him. In fact, the film starts off feeling very much like a parody of Mister Rogers. That’s because the creators gave the movie an obvious strange vibe. It was clearly made to make people question it. It forced you to ponder the message. 
It was based on a true story of a relationship between a journalist whose job was to interview Mister Rogers and Mister Rogers’ growing impression on him. This exhibited the unlikely friendship between the gritty, negative magazine writer and the beloved children’s television show host. Maybe unlikely is the wrong word seeing as Mister Rogers could have befriended a pigeon and everyone would’ve seen it coming. One thing the movie made clear was that Fred Rogers was a special man and had a deep impact on people because he chose to. His warmth radiated through the tv and continues through stories as we saw in the film. There are many beautiful stories of people having lovely moments with this wonderful man. The movie has a couple of examples of this and those are all my favorite moments. To state one, there’s a subway scene, where Mister Rogers and Lloyd are just sitting down and a couple of young girls get his attention. They begin to sing the theme song to him and quickly the whole car joins in. He was so widely loved and respected and it’s beautiful to see depicted on screen. It also felt like we were in those sweet moments. 
That’s one great part of the film being so different than just a sweet story about a lovely man. It was odd and made you feel deeper because those tender moments meant more. They included a strange soundtrack, if you can even call it that. It lacked bouncy, sweet music that you would assume a movie about Mister Rogers would contain. Instead it had plenty of sharp screeches and silence. This focuses your attention on the scene and makes you consider what is happening instead of telling you how to feel. The visuals also contributed to this odd and curious nature of the film. It felt like raw footage a lot of the time, which added to that front-row-seat feeling as well. It was a little grainy and the shots were very intimate at times. Up close shots make people uncomfortable and it aids in that puzzling feeling.
I think the story of this movie, being that it’s based around his friendship with this troubled man, is not only that Mister Rogers was loved by so many types of people, but that his messages aren’t only for children. They far transcend trying to learn to share blocks. The messages are for people like me and you and the journalist. They’re for real issues and all of us would do well to keep his mindfulness and unifying messages when we need help or feel like judging others or have any issues. 
I thoroughly enjoy movies that force me to think. Also, as a huge fan of the wonderful Mister Rogers, I went into the film a little biased. I tried to judge A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood as impartially as I could, and I was really pleased with it. The only thing I could mention as a slight negative is that almost no one, not even the talented Tom Hanks, can completely convey the sweetness of Mister Rogers. That felt like what was missing most, especially in the beginning of the film, but the story made you believe it. Other than that, the movie was pretty brilliant. I give it a 9.
