Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 19, 2020

Director Marielle Heller's (The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Can You Ever Forgive Me?) A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is not a story of Mr. Rogers, the beloved children's television host, but rather of what Mr. Rogers does. His perspective on life is seen through the prism of a cynical, angry journalist whose life changes over time when the kindly Rogers sets time aside to make him the center of his world. It's a tender, heartfelt story of real, dramatic change and the difference one man can make not in the world but rather within one soul when he takes the time to look into one.

In 1998, while attending his sister’s third wedding, Esquire Journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) has a physical altercation with his estranged father (Chris Cooper), a fight that has been a long time coming. It upsets his wife (Susan Kelechi Watson) and newborn baby. Things need to change. And they will, in the most unexpected of ways. At work, he is assigned a 400 word puff piece (“but I’m an investigative journalist!”) on Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks), the beloved children’s television host. It’s not anywhere up Vogel’s alley (ironically the next scene depicts another confrontation with his father in an alleyway back entrance to his apartment) but Rogers is the only one who has agreed to allow Vogel, a dark and cynical writer, to interview him. When Rogers tells him that the most important thing in his life, right now, is speaking to Vogel, as Vogel looks down on a father who walked out on him years ago, it’s the first realization of what Rogers has to offer him, what’s been missing from his life, and setting in motion the healing process and reconciling with his father.

There are some interesting juxtapositions here and there that, possibly purposefully, perhaps accidentally, speak to Rogers’ approach to life on and off the camera. When Vogel first arrives at WQED where an episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood is being filmed, the camera shows Rogers live on stage and through TV monitors at the same time, in the same shot, suggesting that he is one and the same in either arena, that his persona does to begin or end on either side of the camera, that his genuine spirit and desire to lift and inspire holds no matter where he is or how he may appear, which is a vital component to his story, and to Vogel’s, too. And that is the essence of what made Fred Rogers so special. In fact, minutes later when Vogel and Fred speak one-on-one, Vogel asks if Fred Rogers, the man, is a hero. “No” is the response. He follows up by asking if Mr. Rogers, the TV personality, is a hero. Rogers turns the tables. The audience, and Vogel, already know the answer. Rogers upsets some of the more jaded work-first people in his studio who are practically disgusted with his digressions to spend time with a needy child or otherwise depart from their schedule. He knows the value of his TV show -- he says that when he looks through the camera he imagines gazing into the eyes of a single little boy or girl -- but he also knows the value of personal communication and concentration, again vital to Vogel's Rogers-inspired turnaround.

Rogers says that his goal is to “give children positive ways to deal with their feelings.” Of course, his message extends beyond numerical age, as Vogel learns. Rogers chooses to engage his audience, his friends, his acquaintances -- even jaded, life-hardened adults -- in life. He confronts directly, but lovingly, through experience and trained temperament. Rogers' wife Joanne (Maryann Plunkett) tells Vogel that her husband is not a perfect man. He is prone to anger and negative thoughts and actions, and he is certainly not a saint -- he wants to pull people to his level, not place himself on a pedestal beyond anyone's reach -- but simply a gentle soul who chooses how he responds to his emotions. The film spends little time exploring his faith, though it is not dismissed. In one scene, Rogers prays directly, by name, for those for whom he cares, including the entire Vogel family. It's a critical part of his life and perhaps the only, albeit slightly, underplayed part in a movie that is about reflecting Rogers' own understated approach to life. That is nowhere more evident than a scene in which he asks Vogel to pause for a full minute, in silence, to reflect on those who have loved him. The crowded restaurant (populated by real people from the real Mr. Rogers' life) goes silent and the movie literally takes the minute to ask not only its characters, but also its audience, to stop and think. It's one of cinema's great moments of screen-audience interaction in the simplest, and most powerful, example of Rogers' pace and approach to life.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc.

The UHD offers a visual refinement over the Blu-ray, itself a fine image under the 1080p constraints. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood has a bit more room to breathe on this format, even if the differences are not dramatic. The 2160p resolution and native 4K digital intermediate equal more intensely revealing textures, particularly pores and Vogel's facial scruff, but also clothes, set pieces, and the like. The picture's overall clarity and sharpness raise just enough to make the increase matter to the movie. There are no eye-popping transformations here, but viewers will appreciate the finer intricacies and slightly more accurate feel for clarity and sharpness which speaks to how excellent the Blu-ray is and how visually simple the film is as much as it comments on the UHD itself. The HDR color spectrum creates a slightly darker tone overall. Colors are not desaturated but the picture is not quite as bright. But deeper tones appear more accurate and flattering, with improved clarity to more intense hues and more refinement to the everyday environmental elements around New York. Skin tones are healthy, black levels are better on the UHD, and whites are more crisp and stable. That's the UHD in a nutshell. It's a very good image that offers a finessed suite of improvements over a very good Blu-ray. This is the best way to watch the movie, but fans can't go wrong with either presentation.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

A DTS:X soundtrack awaits audiences who view A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood on UHD. There's a modest feel for fuller, more stage filling sounds compared to the Blu-ray's smaller scale 5.1 presentation, particularly anything with some weight or density to it: the more intense piano beats, such as those leading up to as scene between Daniel Tiger and Lady Aberlin in chapter five; or when crowd din filters through the stage, mostly in the background, when Vogel speaks with Rogers' wife as her husband greets a crowd of fans several feet away. The city din sounds rise when Rogers and Vogel walk away as the scene ends. That's largely what to expect with this track: stronger command and greater spacial awareness while holding firm to the core excellence of instrumental clarity and localized sound excellence exhibited by the Blu-ray. Music remains a treat in the lighter piano strokes which find airy, filling placement. Dialogue is presented with stage command from a front-center position.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood's UHD disc is featureless, but the bundled Blu-ray includes a filmmaker commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, and more. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Audio Commentary: Director Marielle Heller and Director of Photography Jody Lee Lipes deliver a casual and insightful track that explores the movie from some basic, and some deeper, perspectives.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (1080p, 16:45 total runtime): Included are Heroes Must Die, You Just Had a Full Interview, Mr. Rogers' Archives, A Trip to the Hospital, Are You Still Feeling Agitated, Did You Know About Me?, I Asked You for Two Photographs, and Mitzi.
• Blooper Reel (1080p, 1:38): Humorous moments from the shoot.
• Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers (1080p,. 10:29): Hanks' take on the character and taking on the role; finding, not replicating, the character; physical prep and costumes; and more.
• The People Who Make a Neighborhood: The Making Of (1080p, 15:23): Hanks, partially in character, introduces the people who worked hard to bring the movie to life, including Director Marielle Heller and key cast. the extra also explores shooting at WQED, set building, and more.
• Dreaming Big, Building Small: The Puppets & Miniatures (1080p, 8:37): A closer look at recreating and performing the Neighborhood puppets.
• Daniel Tiger Explains: Practice Makes Perfect (1080p, 2:42): Essentially the blooper reel from a different perspective.
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fred Rogers takes nothing for granted. He admires life's simple joys, truly enjoying the opportunity to, for example, be in the presence of a string quartet playing beautiful music. He responds with genuine delight to the world around him and offers even more genuine care and concern to those around him and for those in need. When he meets Vogel and agrees to the interview, he doesn't see an opportunity to promote himself but rather to lift up a man in need -- in desperate need -- of life perspective change. Hanks is remarkable, suffice it to say, certainly not in the art of replacing Rogers but definitely in the art of understanding and demonstrating his spiritual essence. And the part works because Matthew Rhys is fully on board with slowly redirecting his deeply wounded essence along the journey, at first pushing away but gradually accepting what Rogers has to offer him as the story moves along. This is purpose driven, honest, and sincere cinema at its finest. Sony's UHD release of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood delivers a well-rounded package, yielding wonderful video and audio presentations, supported by a good allotment of extra content. This release earns my highest recommendation.