This weekend I threw my hard-earned cash at two unfortunate films offered as sacrifices to the Frozen gods: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood and 21 Bridges.
Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.
First up: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.
A jaded investigative journalist is assigned to write a profile of Mr. Rogers.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is about Mr. Rogers, but it isn't really *about* Mr. Rogers. So close on the heels of the documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? maybe it doesn't need to be. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is about Mr. Rogers' uncanny gift for teaching healthy coping mechanisms, and the exceptional kindness that always allowed him to see things from another person's point of view. In this "based on actual events" tale, Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) forms an unlikely friendship with Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), a world-weary writer assigned to profile him for Esquire magazine. Struggling with changes in his home dynamic and estranged from his ill father, Vogel cynically wonders if the saintly Rogers could possibly be for real. The story is framed within a fictional episode of Rogers' legendary television show, which sounds interesting in concept but plays somewhat awkwardly in practice. Pacing is dicey enough that the film, which isn't all that long, sometimes feels very slow and very, very long. It's also heavy-handed with its lessons of kindness and understanding, which isn't unwarranted in these unkind times, but being beaten over the head with a movie's message never helps me enjoy it much. Negatives aside, where the film really shines is in its leading performances. Hanks and Rhys are brilliant individually and together, even if I did catch a bit of Forrest Gump peeking through Hanks' Fred Rogers here and there. Given that he's the world's most-loved actor, playing the world's most-loved person, best actor nods across the board seem a given for Hanks. (At risk of sounding like a broken record: Ceding nominations only. He may not have Taron's Oscar, either, even if he is Tom Hanks playing Mr. Rogers.) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood pulls at the heartstrings, but, ultimately, it still feels like the great Fred Rogers hasn't yet gotten the film he deserves.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood runs 108 minutes and is rated PG for "some strong thematic material, a brief fight, and some mild language."
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood features great performances and some touching moments, but overall it's pretty forgettable. Of a possible nine Weasleys, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood gets six.
Fangirl points: An audible twitter rolled through my theater when the Incline turned up!
Next on my agenda: 21 Bridges.
A detective known for taking down cop killers catches a case where eight officers were killed...but can he peel back the layers to get to the heart of the crime?
21 Bridges is a 2019 movie with the gritty feel of a 1970s cop drama. The underlying story of police corruption in the dirty Big City further adds to the old-school vibe. Chadwick Boseman carries the picture with ease, and--while this doesn't require anything on par with his stunning work in 42 and Get On Up--he is eminently watchable. The supporting cast is as good as it needs to be in fairly limited use, with Taylor Kitsch and Stephan James being particularly noteworthy. Characters are broadly drawn and leave little to the imagination, which makes plot twists pretty easy to spot. The movie is fairly intense throughout, though first half does seem to drag a bit. The second half is more solidly paced, playing to a predictable but not unsatisfying finale.
21 Bridges clocks in at a tight 99 minutes and is rated R for "violence and language throughout."
21 Bridges is a serviceable cop drama that offers a nice respite from awards bait and sappy seasonal fare.
Of a possible nine Weasleys, 21 Bridges gets seven.
Until next time...
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