Looking around at the turmoil the rest of the world finds itself in, it may be hard to believe, but it really is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. The US government might be teetering at the razor’s edge of another shutdown, police might be profiling minorities at unconscionable rates and the people of Flint might still be drinking toxic sludge, but at least Hollywood’s got our backs. It’s a small consolation, certainly, but it’s what we have to work with at the moment.
In the very weeks that the movie world has been gushing over the upcoming Mr. Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, TriStar announced that Tom Hanks — seemingly the last decent man in Hollywood — will be playing Fred “Mr.” Rogers in their upcoming biopic, Won’t You Be My Friend. At a time when the world is apparently clambering with desperate intensity to keep from slipping into the brink, it’s a veritable godsend to be reminded of a man that visited us every to remind us to be neighborly to everyone we meet.
There have, of course, been some criticisms about the casting. Despite Hanks’ undeniable talent and good-guy exterior, some argue that he’s a poor choice for this particular role. While there is always some leeway given to casting a real-life person in a movie — because so few people are both great actors and a spot-on match to who they portray on film, even with today’s makeup effects — Hanks really doesn’t look like America’s favorite neighbor. He’s a very solidly built man, and even with weight loss and cosmetics, he hardly strikes the necessary figure. And while most historical figures’ personage isn’t burned into our collective contemporary consciousness, Mr. Rogers is both a relatively recent figure and was a beloved television icon for 32 years.
That being said, however, the casting both makes sense and is, on its face, perfect. Tom Hanks might not be a visual match for Fred Rogers, but he is perhaps the closest thing we have to a Mr. Rogers in 2018. He is a beloved personality who never seems to waver as a decent, upstanding and downright neighborly person. He’s charming like everybody’s favorite uncle and represents the same ideals as the man he is set to portray on the big screen.
There’s a reason why he recently portrayed Walt Disney, another beloved childhood icon whose public persona is a spot-on representation for Hanks’ own. There’s a reason why the “tussle my hair, Mr. Hanks” line from The Simpsons Movie remains one of the most quote lines in a movie seemingly built from nothing but quotable lines. He’s a cherished, wholesome American icon, and that alone is the selling point for the movie. It’s not just about cutting the right jib for the man we invited into our homes and trusted with teaching our children for an entire generation. It’s also about living up to his legacy of decency, which Hanks most certainly does.
