A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers. Yep! That works!

The film does a lovely job showing the impact Mister Rogers had on everyone, even a “broken” magazine writer who was mired in cynicism and anger.

Working with puppets isn’t easy: There’s a moment in this film where Fred Rogers introduces Daniel Striped Tiger (whom you’ll recall is a puppet) to the protagonist, Lloyd Vogel. The interaction teeters on disaster, but this is why you hire Tom Hanks–he finds a way to weave through the scene without it degrading into campy or creepy.