6 outta 10 - Just okay, maybe see.
I disagree with critics and majority of people that this was a great film. Feels more like a PBS acid trip, than a careful exploration of what it means to be a real hero. Tom Hanks is great, but is barely in the film, much like Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs we eagerly await his every witty quip or anecdote & wish for his next scene only to realize he is more a plot device than a flesh and blood character. Yet, the film keeps telling you he is not perfect, keeps hinting there is more to know, but coldly stops and gets lost in a much much less interesting story of someone whom he helps. Replace Mr Rogers with any wise-figure (Santa Claus for example) and little would change... very small efforts are made to give Mr Rogers enough time to develop himself more than what we can figure out from watching him on tv. We're supposed to just accept he really was a nice guy (which I don't doubt) and never supposed to ask for a full backstory. The film even muses how the article being written (and by association, the film which is based on it) isn't even about Mr Rogers... as if they delight you've been fooled. I'd be fine with this if any other character was remotely believable (and it's based on a true story... so you know they are real). Instead this $50M film feels super cheaply made (except for A List Tom Hanks). Every character says exactly what they mean every second of the time, having zero depth or nuance and are painted in broad strokes, despite the Mr Rogers character being one of the most intriguing real people ever on television. Eventually the plot just gives up and gets stuck in the gimmick of this being just another episode of Mr Rogers, having Hanks talk to the camera as the real guy did. It's cute at first, but once you realize the entire film will keep going back to this, doesn't have the staying power or the lack of distraction as Forrest Gump's storytelling narrator had. Hanks tries, but the whole niche feels clichè and hackneyed. There are some genuine good moments in the film... a death bed scene, a couple of good moments with Rogers (most of which are in the trailer). I still think it's best to skip this and watch the hit documentary Won't you Be My Neighbor, made last year on a micro budget. It had me in tears. This one, had me looking at my watch as the two hour Rogers episode kept up the gimmick. Sorry, didn't like it.
I disagree with critics and majority of people that this was a great film. Feels more like a PBS acid trip, than a careful exploration of what it means to be a real hero. Tom Hanks is great, but is barely in the film, much like Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs we eagerly await his every witty quip or anecdote & wish for his next scene only to realize he is more a plot device than a flesh and blood character. Yet, the film keeps telling you he is not perfect, keeps hinting there is more to know, but coldly stops and gets lost in a much much less interesting story of someone whom he helps. Replace Mr Rogers with any wise-figure (Santa Claus for example) and little would change... very small efforts are made to give Mr Rogers enough time to develop himself more than what we can figure out from watching him on tv. We're supposed to just accept he really was a nice guy (which I don't doubt) and never supposed to ask for a full backstory. The film even muses how the article being written (and by association, the film which is based on it) isn't even about Mr Rogers... as if they delight you've been fooled. I'd be fine with this if any other character was remotely believable (and it's based on a true story... so you know they are real). Instead this $50M film feels super cheaply made (except for A List Tom Hanks). Every character says exactly what they mean every second of the time, having zero depth or nuance and are painted in broad strokes, despite the Mr Rogers character being one of the most intriguing real people ever on television. Eventually the plot just gives up and gets stuck in the gimmick of this being just another episode of Mr Rogers, having Hanks talk to the camera as the real guy did. It's cute at first, but once you realize the entire film will keep going back to this, doesn't have the staying power or the lack of distraction as Forrest Gump's storytelling narrator had. Hanks tries, but the whole niche feels clichè and hackneyed. There are some genuine good moments in the film... a death bed scene, a couple of good moments with Rogers (most of which are in the trailer). I still think it's best to skip this and watch the hit documentary Won't you Be My Neighbor, made last year on a micro budget. It had me in tears. This one, had me looking at my watch as the two hour Rogers episode kept up the gimmick. Sorry, didn't like it.