Review of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) by Ananisapta — 18 Mar 2020

I was moved by this movie in spite of its obvious flaws. The message about anger management really hit home. The writing, however, was a bit heavy-handed and Tom Hanks's portrayal of Fred Rogers really bothered me.

I met Fred when I was at the University of Pittsburgh. He was very comfortable being Mr Rogers and didn't seem to have any other way of being. It wasn't an act, it was himself. Tom Hanks seemed to be working very hard at the role; he didn't have the unselfconscious grace of the real Fred. At the very end, they have a shot of the real Fred singing. There's no comparison.