Movies

'A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood' Image Gives Us A New Look At Tom Hanks As Mr. Rogers

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood image
By Chris Evangelista

Can Tom Hanks, the most wholesome of actors, taking on the role of Mr. Rogers, the most wholesome of humans, save the world? No, don't be ridiculous – life doesn't work that way. But it might help make things a little more tolerable, if only briefly. Hanks plays the unbelievably kind children's television host in the upcoming film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and a new pic has arrived featuring the actor rocking one of Rogers' famous cardigans. See the A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood image below!

Behold! Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers. The image above shows Hanks as the beloved icon, shaking hands with Matthew Rhys (not, as I originally thought, ER actor Noah Wyle, even though it really looks like him). Rhys plays Lloyd Vogel, a semi-fictional character inspired by real-life journalist Tom Junod. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is based on the true story of a profile Junod wrote about Rogers for Esquire (you can read the full profile here). Here's the synopsis:

Two-time Oscar-winner Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod. After a jaded magazine writer (Emmy winner Matthew Rhys) is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about empathy, kindness, and decency from America's most beloved neighbor.

I don't know how I feel about this synopsis. For one thing, that cynicism doesn't come through in the original article – Junod never gives you the sense that he went to interview Rogers with skepticism. I get that they had to manufacture some kind of plot here, but was anyone ever really skeptical of Mr. Rogers, other than the worst people imaginable?

In any case, the real draw here will be Hanks, a beloved actor, played Rogers, a beloved television host. Hanks certainly looks the part, but I imagine the real test will be the voice – Rogers had a very distinct accent (he was from Pittsburgh, but his voice often sounded like it had a slight Southern twang for some reason). Hanks is a pro, so I'm sure he'll do his best to nail the voice, but hopefully it will sound natural, and not forced (or bordering on parody).

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood hails from filmmaker Marielle Heller, who directed last year's fantastic Can You Ever Forgive Me?, which is also a big plus here. Look for the film in theaters on November 22, 2019.

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