Both Marielle Heller and Tom Hanks Bring Their A-Game For A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Though he's plastered all over the marketing, Tom Hanks' Fred Rogers is not the lead character of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Rogers is certainly a pivotal part of the movie and the visual trappings of his children's television show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, are also reflected throughout the production as well. But those expecting this Marielle Heller directorial effort to be a traditional movie biopic about Fred Rogers or any other kind of film exclusively focusing on this man will be disappointed. Heller and writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster have concocted something much more unique for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood that may not put Fred Rogers center-stage but certainly is influenced by the man and especially his worldview.

A Man of Kindness Is The Subject of The Excellent And Emotionally Powerful Documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Kindness is so important. Considering how pervasively cruel the world can be, we owe it to ourselves and to those around us to try and impart kindness whenever we possibly can, even if such kindness manifests in the smallest of ways. But that's not really the default behavior of far too many in this world, with selfishness instead being the de facto behavior that people (myself, unfortunately, included) tend to engage in even subconsciously. If only we could look beyond ourselves and think about the well-being of others, maybe the world would be a better place. Maybe the world would be a little bit more like Fred Rogers, the subject of the documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? and a source of hope for so many over numerous decades.