Sydney Morning Herald
Hanks is perhaps the only actor who could have made any sense of the part, having achieved his own brand of saintliness in Hollywood’s current pantheon yet he doesn’t seem comfortable here.
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
Oscar winner Tom Hanks is Fred Rogers, beloved host and creator of the popular children's TV show Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood, in this biopic helmed by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?).
A jaded magazine writer (Emmy winner Matthew Rhys, TV's The Americans) overcomes his scepticism and learns about empathy and kindness after being assigned a profile of Rogers.
2019Rating: PG, Violence & coarse language109 minsUSA, China
DramaTrue Story & Biography
- Director:
- Marielle Heller ('The Diary of a Teenage Girl', 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?')
- Writer:
- Micah Fitzerman-BlueNoah Harpster
- Cast:
- Tom HanksMatthew RhysEnrico ColantoniChris CooperSusan Kelechi WatsonMaryann PlunkettTammy BlanchardWendy Makkena
A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood / Reviews
Stuff
Rhys (The Americans) delivers precisely the right dose of world-weary cynicism, while Hanks perfectly captures the quiet intensity and cadence of the seemingly unflappable Rogers. It's hard not to be drawn in by his words and into his world of positivity and "neighbourhood of make believe".
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New Zealand Listener
...it’s in the emotional charge she [director Marielle Heller] gets out of seemingly simple scenes of two men talking – and sometimes that’s between Vogel and his estranged father, played by Chris Cooper – that makes ABDITN such an utter delight of a film.
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FilmInk
…if you don’t feel just a bit warm and gooey watching this film then you are probably cynical, bitter or dead.
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Variety
"A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood" is a lovely, soft-hearted fable that works on you in an enchanting way.
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Hollywood Reporter
Marielle Heller's film itself, however, is a rather more modest achievement, sympathetic and yet entirely predictable in its dramatic trajectory of making a believer of an angry, cynical journalist.
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Screen Daily
Even in territories where audiences are unfamiliar with Fred Rogers' hokey appeal, the film's humour, its amiable charm offensive and its gentle weirdness should disarm all but the most cynical.
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The Guardian
While Hanks avoids attempting to awkwardly replicate Rogers' voice - although he does nail his cadence - he focuses on exuding the same bewitching, patient curiosity that Rogers had in the people he met.
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Time Out
Hanks, comfortable in his twinkly-eyed wheelhouse, is properly supportive - it's a supporting role - while Rhys becomes the movie's little boy, diving into his own daddy issues, hopefully resolving them in time to write the big heroic cover story.
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Vanity Fair
Neighbourhood is full of looking, listening, understanding - fitting for a film about a man who was incredibly charismatic, slow of gesture and speech in ways that encouraged everyone around him to perform his kindness back at him.
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Total Film
For those seeking comfort, kindness and a sense of cherishing in a turbulent world that seems to reward cruelty over caring, A Beautiful Day will be cinematic balm. Surrender to it and bring tissues.
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