A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Short description
A cynical journalist, Lloyd Vogel, is assigned by Esquire to write a profile of Fred Rogers, the host of the long-running children's television programme Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Vogel takes the job reluctantly, viewing Rogers as too soft and gentle to be worth his time. What begins as a routine piece of reporting develops into a friendship that pushes Vogel to confront the anger and family conflict weighing on him, as the two men find themselves discussing matters far removed from the article's original purpose. The story is inspired by the real relationship between Rogers and journalist Tom Junod.
Marielle Heller directed the film, the third she made, following The Diary of a Teenage Girl and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and it comes before Nightbitch and The Comebacker. Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue wrote the screenplay, with Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub and Youree Henley producing. Tom Hanks plays Fred Rogers, Matthew Rhys plays Lloyd Vogel, and Chris Cooper, Susan Kelechi Watson, Maryann Plunkett and Enrico Colantoni appear in supporting roles. The production had a budget of 25 million dollars and took about 68 million dollars worldwide.
Audiences received the film positively, with an IMDb rating of 7.2 from over 86,000 votes and a TMDB rating of 7 from roughly 1,800 votes. Critics were notably warmer still, giving it 8 out of 10 across 380 reviews, a stronger response than that of general viewers.
What's left behind the scenes
- According to Tom Hanks, the most difficult part of playing Fred Rogers was slowing down his speech and not speaking rapidly. To achieve this, the actor practiced meditation and relaxation exercises before the start of each shooting day to get into the right mood and state of mind. However, during breaks between takes, he would forget and start speaking quickly again, consuming large amounts of coffee.
- Director Marielle Heller insisted during filming that the crew and actors work for 10 hours straight without a lunch break. This was necessary for her to be able to return home and put her son to bed. Additionally, it was done out of respect for Fred Rogers. Heller didn't believe he would want the crew and actors to become so exhausted during filming that they would lack the energy for their own families.
- Tom Juno served as the prototype for Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys).
- Tom Hanks is a distant relative of Fred Rogers, whom he portrayed.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
