Tom Hanks to play Fred Rogers in biopic based on Esquire article by Tom Junod.*

It's kinda hard to judge the quality of the portrayal from the trailer. All Tom does is smile a lot. He hasn't always done great with accents so it will be interesting. Really, they should have just gotten Christopher Guest.

 

I'm not enthusiastic about the trailer or the film. At all.

You can't make a compelling movie about a life that had virtually no drama or conflict.

 

Still doesn't really say what the movie is about though. Just a guy talking to another guy? Seems like we've seen that before.

As others have said, there doesn't seem a lot there to make a dramatic movie about. A documentary, sure. And Won't You Be My Neighbor was one of my all-time favorite movies--doc or otherwise--last year. (And criminally overlooked at the Oscars!) But for a dramatic picture, there just doesn't seem to be enough "there" there. My worry is that it will dissolve into feel-good platitudes and cheapen his memory.

But as I think I said earlier, I have faith that director Marielle Heller can pull it off. She has a pretty great track record so far, in my book.

 

When is the Eddie Murphy parody movie being released?

 

I don’t know if the movie will be good or not, but no person as accomplished and influential as Fred Rogers leads a life with “virtually no drama or conflict.” Lazy, uninteresting people who avoid confrontation don’t change a generation through a lifetime of hard work.

 

I didn't say that Mr. Rogers was lazy or uninteresting or that he avoided conflict.

I said that his life didn't contain enough drama to justify a dramatic portrayal.

Look, this movie is going to make millions based solely on who's starring in it. And it will be full of artificial heartstring-tugging moments. And people will pat themselves on the back as they convince themselves that it was one of the greatest movies they've ever seen. But the feeling will quickly wear off, and 5 years from now this movie will be virtually forgotten, at least in comparison to "Won't You Be My Neighbor".

 

As other people have mentioned, the movie is not really a biopic of Mister Rogers — it’s about a cynical writer who goes to interview him, and the effect he has on the writer. It’s not about the ups and downs of Rogers’ life.

 

He looks like Tom Hanks playing dress up.

 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmu...GERS-Album-to-be-Released-October-25-20190916​

 

If that's the case, I call that a missed opportunity.

 

The film stems from a 1998 Esquire interview by a writer who's going through a rough time in his life, and he's trying to find out if there's any dirt on Fred Rogers or if he's really exactly the guy he seems to be on TV. Not only does he discover that the man really is Mr. Rogers, but Rogers also helps him realize the value of the good things in his life, and makes him consider that maybe the world is not quite as dark and awful as his journalistic mind sees it, and the experience changes his entire perspective and philosophy for the better.

Can You Say...Hero? - Mr. Rogers Profile Interview

So the conflict is more about the journalist's perceptions, and not just about Mr. Rogers per se. Sometimes, conflict and drama can come from an internal point of view, not necessarily people screaming or shooting at each other. Internal conflict can be something as simple as a businessman dreading a meeting with the boss the next day, or a kid terrified about an upcoming school test. And trust me, those experiences can have plenty of drama and conflict.

The early reviews of the film are very positive:

It only takes a couple of minutes of watching Hanks go through the Rogers rituals on the familiar set of his show to know that you’re in good hands — that the actor will entirely deliver the Rogers persona physically, vocally and in attitude. In fact, it’s easy to imagine that many people will relax into the movie so much that they’ll forget they’re watching an impersonation. The slow, easy, invariably honest and never condescending words that come out of his mouth, and the way Hanks invites you into Rogers’ odd but convincing world, provide the film’s greatest pleasures. The actor persuades you to drop your guard and let the man’s unique, if nonetheless a bit bizarre, means of communication take you by the hand and lead you to hitherto unexpected emotional and attitudinal places.

'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood': Film Review | TIFF 2019

 

Can you say "Egg McMuffin"?

 

That Moment When Tom Hanks Learns He Actually Share Genes With Mister Rogers ​

 

Read now..it says privacy settingd no longer played

 

He was bullied as a kid..sure they'd show that too, as it's due a month from now.

 

Tom Hanks?

What—Crispin Glover was unavailable?

 

"look, I've never seen this movie but it's crap and anyone who claims otherwise is an idiot."

 

Hoping to catch it this weekend. For those who think his life perhaps lacks the drama to make for an interesting film, it kind of seems like the "drama" in the movie centers more around the reporter (played by "The Americans" Matthew Rhys) who's interviewing him.

This is the third feature from director Marielle Heller, and so far her Rotten Tomato scores are:

The Diary of a Teenage Girl - 94%
Can You Ever Forgive Me? - 98%
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - 97% (as of this post)

That's pretty amazing.

 

I saw it over the weekend. The world needs this now. I was moved to tears. That is all.

 

Caught it this weekend myself, and I loved it. Beautiful, creative use of the iconic Mr. Rogers visual style as a framing device to the story. And yes, quite the tear-jerker. And as I speculated above, the story is really as much (if not more) about the report as Mr. Rogers himself.

 

This may be a case of a film that is considerably better than its 2-minute promotional trailer would make it seem. I was underwhelmed by the trailer and Tom Hanks-as-Fred Rogers as shown in it. Yesterday, a good friend told me to go see the film, that it is much, much better than he had expected. I haven't done so yet, but it has been added to my film-going agenda.

 

I finally saw it today, and it is excellent. Yes, it's a film about the writer, and Fred Rogers is just a character in the story, but that's perfectly fine. There were moments that had me in tears, honest emotional moments, not manipulative. It's a wonderful example of the sort of film that people claim they need to make more of, and the people should actually go see in the theater if they want them to make more of these sort of films.

 

Last night I saw the doc "Won't You Be My Neighbor". HIGHLY recommended.

 

This was a good movie, not a great one IMHO. Very well acted. Rhys character had a deep, well-founded hatred for his father. With a few kind and introspective words by Fred Rogers, Rhys estrangement was resolved in a couple of weeks.

 

It was the realization that his father was dying. Fred Rogers's wise council and example showed him that he was only hurting himself (and quite possibly risking his marriage.)