A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Mr. Rogers is a fixture in many people's childhoods, both adults and children. Once upon a time, a journalist was hired to interview Mr. Rogers for his employer, Esquire magazine. The article, "Can You Say Hero?" became this film.

Tom Hanks plays Fred Rogers in this film. While he had the speech patterns and cadence, I could not suspend reality and pretend that he was Mr. Rogers. That being said, he was Tom Hanks playing Mr. Rogers, which wasn't as much an imitation as an embodiment.

The film isn't about Mr. Rogers, it's about the life of the journalist that was hired to interview Mr. Rogers, Lloyd Vogel, played in the film by Matthew Rhys. The real name of the journalist that wrote the article is Tom Junod.

Once you have seen the film, you might be curious to read the article. It can be found here:

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/

Now streaming, available on DVD and Blu Ray, 5 stars.