Mr. Rogers Movie Leaves Michael Rock Inspired

My kids were home from school the other day, so I took the opportunity to dip out of work a little early and extend the already-long Thanksgiving weekend.

My daughter and I decided last-minute to check out the movie about Mr. Rogers, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

I watched Mr. Rogers daily when I was a young child, but I really didn't know much about his private life. I wondered how my teenaged daughter would enjoy the movie considering she's never watched an episode (which now makes me feel like a failure as a father, by the way).

Interestingly enough, the movie isn't the direct biopic about the children's television host that I expected. The story centers around a hard-nosed exposé writer for Esquire magazine.

Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers is jaw-dropping. Adults who grew up watching Mr. Rogers will be drawn in right from the opening scene, and the closing scene will leave you with a lump in your throat, longing for a time when you were still a child. Between his calming cadence and the emotional expression in his eyes as he looks at the writer, Lloyd Vogel, you can feel the love that Hanks had for the real Mr. Rogers.

The takeaway from the movie is simple: everyone can be a nicer person. It's not an easy thing to do. Mr. Rogers' wife says in the movie that it's something he works at daily, and that even he has a temper, but that he works hard at bringing kindness to the world.

My advice to you is to stop whatever it is you’re doing right now, drive to the nearest theater and watch A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood immediately. It made me want to be a better person. It also made me feel like I was four years old again and my mom had a PB&J without the crust waiting for me in the kitchen.

Kindness. Such a simple concept. The world sure could use more of it.