A long time ago, a man went on television and taught us all that we had value in this world, and that if we chose to speak, he would listen to us even if nobody else world. Many years later, we are forgetting his lessons – convincing one another that we are not valuable to the world at-large, and covering our ears when someone says something we don’t like.

How did we get here?

Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is a writer for Esquire. When the magazine is planning an issue dedicated to heroes, Frank draws the dubious task of doing a short write-up on Mister Rogers (Tom Hanks). When Vogel meets the beloved children’s TV personality, he discovers a man like few others – one wired with seemingly infinite patience and a deep desire to listen to others. With modern stresses turning Frank’s personal life in a state of chaos, it’s an old-school throwback with cardigan sweaters and ratty puppets that helps bring him clarity.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD is not the bio-pic of Fred Rogers. By the filmmakers’ own admission, telling such a tale is a herculean task since Rogers is such a boring protagonist. As an antagonist though, Rogers becomes something special – an unlikely guide through a time of crisis. While Heller’s film pulls focus away from Rogers himself, it does so to prove his importance.

The film wants to remind us how many of us are still seeking guidance as we try to make our way through life. We struggle with changing expectations, plans unfulfilled, and increasing stress as we become responsible for so many more people than ourselves. Who would ever guess that a man who taught us the simplest lessons as children, can help us with life’s complexities as adults.

That’s precisely what Rogers did, and very much what Hanks brings to life. Vogel’s story will seem familiar, but the fact that his path keeps crossing Rogers, and the wisdom he is able to glean from those encounters is what makes this story something special.

We live in a time of great anger – some of it justified, much of it not. Mister Rogers got angry with the world now and then, but he found ways to work on himself; to understand what he was feeling and why. To some it seemed like innocence or denial, but this film is here to remind us that who he was and who he wants us to be requires a great deal of work.

Perhaps that’s why things get so bad so easily these days: Nobody wants to do the work anymore. What would that nice man on the television think of who we all have become?