First Hit: I was deeply touched by this film about how kindness and forgiveness can move internal mountains.
Unlike the recent documentary about Fred Rogers, which gives an insight to the man, this film opens the door on this enigmatic kind soul named Fred Rogers by watching him work with an adult.
The opening scenes with Rogers (Tom Hanks) talking to the camera as he enters the famed neighborhood set, sitting down, taking off his shoes and putting on tennis shoes and a sweater was precious. While watching this scene, I was transported back in time, sitting in the living room with my young daughter watching Mr. Rogers open the door to children’s hearts and minds.
In this story, Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), is an investigative reporter who has a reputation of taking cheap shots at people or discovers the darker sides of individuals and writes stories that do not reflect positively on his subjects. He’s not the reporter you want to have to write your story.
Getting an assignment to write a short four-hundred-word piece about Rogers for Esquires Magazine’s hero edition, Lloyd chastises his boss for assigning him to write a fluff piece. When Vogel gets home and tells his wife Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson) about this horrible assignment, she bemoans, “don’t ruin my childhood.” This is the perfect setup.
As Lloyd and Fred meet for an interview, Vogel is perplexed by the way Rogers approaches the question, sometimes answering it directly, and other times deflects or answers a different question – the one not asked. Slowly, Roger’s magic of compassion and kindness begins to work on Vogel in underlying ways. He begins to question his anger and the way he’s participating in his relationship with his wife and new baby.
During the interviews, Vogel, at times, gets upset at not getting the answers he is looking for and walks away from Rogers. However, once he steps away, he knows there is something there and goes back. Each time he learns more about himself as well as Fred.
It’s through these sporadic interviews, Vogel begins to learn how he needs to change his life by processing his inner anger towards his father, Jerry (Chris Cooper). As the story unfolds, we learn that Lloyd hasn’t seen his father since he was a little kid. His mother also died while he was young, and his father couldn’t deal with it, so he bailed.
The film is a beautiful orchestration of how Fred Rogers operates in the world, how people see him, his version of kindness, and how he reaches out and touches people, young and old with honest and real sincerity.
I loved how the filmmakers interspersed Mr. Rogers's sets, set pieces, and traveling between Pittsburgh and NYC. It was ingenious, to say the least.
Hanks was sublime as Rogers. The ability to make the audience sense and feel the embodiment of Fred Rogers was terrific. Rhys was clearly perfect as the reporter who had the willingness to travel through his anger, sadness, and sorrow to come to grips with how he was going to be in the future. Watson was terrific as Lloyd’s wife. Her compassion for Lloyd’s struggles was wonderfully portrayed. Cooper was powerful as Lloyd’s father, a man who did wrong and was trying the only way he knew to find forgiveness and peace within himself. Maryann Plunkett, as Fred’s wife Joanne was excellent. Her understanding of Fred and how he worked was divine. Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster wrote a fantastic script. Marielle Heller was deft in creating a film that captured this iconic man.
Overall: This story took me on a trip and brought up genuine, deeply felt feelings and emotions.