A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - 1 nomination

Supporting Actor - Tom Hanks

This is not a biopic of Mr. Rogers.  This is a film of a troubled reporter, Lloyd Vogel, trying to deal with his own personal baggage, and the unexpected kindness and friendship of Fred Rogers who he had been sent to profile for an article.  The movie is based on the real life Vogel and his real life friendship with Mr. Rogers, but it is unclear how much - if any - of the details in the film are true.  But it doesn't matter. What is portrayed so beautifully is the essence of Mr. Rogers, and it is done in a way that creatively uses the familiar style of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.  We see Fred at the back end of his career in the later stages of his life, and we even get a glimpse into Rogers' own struggles with anger - remnants of a difficult childhood and how he evolved as a person to deal with his demons.  What Hanks does that is so memorable is embody the epitome of the man who appeared on our television sets.

This is not the story of Mr. Rogers' life.  This is one story of how Mr. Rogers impacted others' lives.  Whether the exact details of narrative are factual or not is irrelevant.  The movie feels true, and it feels true because of Tom Hanks' performance in the film.  We already know that he is a flawless actor.  It would be imprecise to say that this is the first time that he has played a real person, but it's fair to say that this is the first time he truly became (another) real person.  (That scene changing his shoes; it's eerie.)

Of course, without a doubt, there is only one thing to recommend if you liked this film... and even if you didn't like this film (because you didn't think it was enough about Mr. Rogers himself.)

Here's the trailer: