A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD is like finally getting to know the friendly but…uh, decidedly curious…occupant in the Victorian house down the block—the one with lawn elves adorned in band uniforms and who does jumping jacks to opera in front of the teepee on the roof of their garage—and finding out they are actually…really…nice.

Tom Hanks once again bowls 300, adding to his portrait gallery of real-life characters—paging Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks—with his disarming interpretation of another Americana icon, a dulcet-toned, sweater-favoring fella named Fred.

1998: Esquire journalist ‘Lloyd Vogel'(Matthew Rhys), under the gun for the responses to his acidic interview style, is assigned to write an article about TV icon ‘Mr. Rogers’, a figure alternately admired and mocked for his particular style, a gentleness at decided odds with Vogel’s cynicism. Certain that Rogers (Hanks) is a sham, during the course of several meetings, Vogel is not only challenged by Fred’s near-cosmic kindness (simplicity deeper than its surface) but by his own less-forgiving attitudes, especially anger toward his ailing father (Chris Cooper), the mirror opposite of his father figure subject. *

Though his galaxy placement has him first-billed, Hanks was Oscar-nominated as Supporting Actor, justifiably, his exquisitely etched embodiment of Rogers as sincere as his character’s character, and part of a fresh burst of first-rate roles—Captain Phillips, Saving Mr. Banks, Greyhound, News Of The World, Elvis…

However he doesn’t overshadow Rhys, superb in the equally challenging lead. In films for 23 years prior to this (27 features including The Post, with Hanks), at 44 he was best known for his work in TV series like The Americans. How much the script’s Vogel mirrored his real-life counterpart is up in the air but as an acting task Rhys faultlessly traced a painful journey from bitterness and despair to understanding and acceptance. As the errant father, Cooper, as ever, is flawless at conveying humanity struggling to emerge through self-imposed ruin.

Written by the team of Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster (also acting a small, amusing role)  directed by Marielle Heller, with markedly vivid production design from Jade Healy, recreating the famous daydream neighborhood inhabited by Fred and friends.

Delivered for $25,000,000 just before Thanksgiving 2019, rewarded with $68,400,000, 90% of that naturally enough in the Rogers-united States where it comfortably rested (around nap time) at 45th place in the field from 2019.

With Susan Kelechi Watson (feature debut, excellent as ‘Andrea’, Vogel’s hubby-vexed wife), Maryann Plunkett (as Joanne Rogers, Fred’s partner in heart)  Enrico Colantoni, Christine Lahti, Wendy Makkena and Tammy Blanchard. 109 minutes.

* Vogel is based on writer Tom Junod, whose 1998 Esquire article “Can You Say…Hero'” was the genesis for—in reverse order—the movie, a 2018 documentary titled Won’t You Be My Neighbor and a personal transformation the much-criticized (before & since) Junod experienced after getting to know his subject. Skepticism can be smart, but shedding it is allowed, sometimes crucial.