I
was interested in this movie, but not enough to see it before the nominations
came out. However, my interest was piqued further when I found out that it was
directed by Marielle Heller, who did Can
You Ever Forgive Me? last year. Lucky for me, some of the Oscar movies came
back to my local theater after the nominations were announced, and I got a
chance to see this one.
Journalist
Lloyd Vogel doesn’t know what to think when his editor tasks him with writing a
profile on Mister Rogers. He makes it very clear that “that’s not the kind of
thing” he writes, to no avail. He then sets out to uncover the “real” Mister
Rogers, the cynicism and/or darkness behind what has to be the façade of his
TV-persona gentle kindness, but Fred Rogers has an agenda of his own: to help
the damaged Lloyd start to heal from some of his long-held trauma.
I’ve
heard some complaining that nominating Tom Hanks for Best Supporting Actor is
an instance of category fraud, but having seen the movie, I think it fits. He’s
undeniably good as Fred Rogers, always nailing the man’s essence even if the
details of the performance sometimes veer closer to impression than embodiment.
That said, this definitely isn’t his story. It’s Lloyd’s, and Mister Rogers is
the vehicle through which the film explores Lloyd’s lack of faith in humanity,
his deep-rooted issues with his father, and his inability to deal with his
emotions in a healthy way. It’s a pretty compelling story and probably a more
dynamic one than a “Mister Rogers biopic” would’ve been.
There
are some neat artistic touches in the movie. I like that its establishing shots
are done on model towns and cityscapes, Mister
Rogers-style recreations of, say, New York City with tiny little model cars
moving jerkily across the Brooklyn Bridge. There’s also an interesting framing
device and some really skillful interplay between scenes. While I still liked Can You Ever Forgive Me? better, this is
a fine follow-up for Heller.
Since,
like I said, this is Lloyd’s story, the movie’s finest quality is the dynamic
between Matthew Rhys and Tom Hanks. Rhys’s Lloyd is the jaded skeptic who grows
increasingly intent on validating his own belief that Fred Rogers can’t be “for
real,” while Hanks’s Fred is a gentle soul who, at every turn, genuinely
conveys that whoever he’s talking to is the most important person in the world
to him at that moment. It’s not as simple as cynicism vs. innocence, because
Fred has his own agenda too, even if it’s an altruistic one, and there are
scenes where he’s almost sphinx-like in avoiding Lloyd’s attempts to take the
conversation in a darker direction.
The
rest of the cast performs their jobs well. I especially want to note Susan
Kelechi Watson (I’m not familiar with her myself, but IMDb tells me she’s on This is Us,) who does a really nice job
as Lloyd’s wife Andrea, and the film also features Chris Cooper and Enrico
Colantoni (Keith Mars!)
Warnings
Drinking/smoking,
brief violence, and thematic elements.
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