A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2019 film by Marielle Heller

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a 2019 American biographical drama film that is based on the life of American television presenter Fred Rogers and his real-life friendship with journalist Lloyd Vogel.

Directed by Marielle Heller; Written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster; Produced by Youree Henley, Peter Saraf, Marc Turteltaub and Leah Holzer; Based on the 1998 article "Can You Say... Hero?" by Tom Junod.
Neighbor. Icon. Friend. An American icon and the story of kindness we need right now.

Fred Rogers

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  • [to his viewers from his show at the beginning of the movie] I'd like you to meet a new friend of mine. His name is Lloyd Vogel. [opens a door in the picture board to reveal a photo of a traumatized Lloyd Vogel] Someone hurt my friend Lloyd, and not just on his face. He is having a hard time forgiving the person who hurt him. Do you, do you know what that means? To forgive? It's a decision we make to release a person from the feelings of anger we have at them. It's strange, but sometimes it's hardest of all to forgive someone we love.
  • I don't think anybody can grow unless he really is accepted exactly as he is.
  • I hope you know that you made today a very special day by just your being you. There's no one in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.
  • There... There is no normal life that is free from pain.
  • Depression is rage turned inward. To forgive is to release the anger for someone or something.
  • [to Lloyd] I don't think you are broken. I know you are a man of conviction, a person who knows the difference between what is wrong and what is right. Try to remember that your relationship with your father also helped to shape those parts. He helped you become what you are.

Lloyd Vogel

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  • Listen, I realize I need to deal with my feelings. When I'm scared, which I was in the hospital, and I have been for a long time, I get really angry. I know it's a way of saying, "I can't deal with this. Get away from me." But that's not what I want. It's actually the opposite of what I want.

Dialogue

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[Lloyd has encountered his estranged father Jerry at the wedding reception]
Jerry Vogel: Your mom and I hardly knew each other when she got pregnant. But we were babies, huh?
Lloyd Vogel: Don't talk about her.
Jerry Vogel: Oh, whoa, wait a minute. You don't know the whole story. Your mom was not the saint...
Lloyd Vogel: [suddenly turns around and punches Jerry] DON'T TALK ABOUT MY MOM!!!! [Todd rushes in and attempts to restrain Lloyd]
Lorraine Vogel: [watching her brother yell at Jerry] What are you doing?
Lloyd Vogel: [shoves Todd into Lorraine, spilling wine all over her dress] GET OFF ME!!!
Wedding Guest: Hey! [punches Lloyd against the wall]
Todd: Come on, what are you doing? Come on.
Lorraine Vogel: [shocked and furious with Lloyd for ruining her wedding dress] What the hell?! [Andrea looks at Lloyd as he facepalms his injury]

Lloyd Vogel: You didn't hear him.
Andrea Vogel: You were out of control.
Lloyd Vogel: He was out of control.
Andrea Vogel: You're just not gonna take responsibility for any of this?
Lloyd Vogel: Of course I am. I offered to pay for Lorraine's dry cleaning.

Lloyd Vogel: Hey, what did you say to Jerry?
Fred Rogers: I asked him to pray for me. I figure anyone who is going through what he is going through must be awfully close to God.

First AD: Daniel, you set?
Fred Rogers: I'm set!
First AD: Thank you, Daniel.
Lloyd Vogel: Did she just talk to the puppet?
Bill Isler: Daniel isn't just a puppet. Daniel is Fred, and Fred is Daniel.

Oprah Winfrey: What do you think is the biggest mistakes parents make in raising their children?
Fred Rogers: Not to remember their own childhood. I think that the best thing that we can do is to..think about what it was like for us and know what our children are going through.
Oprah Winfrey: But you know what? It's so hard once you get to be a parent. You always say, I will never do this, when your parents are doing it to you. You say, I will never do this to my child. And then you get to our age and you forget what it was like to be this size.You really do forget.
Fred Rogers: Well, but those children can help re-evoke what it was like. That's why, when you're a parent, you have a new chance to grow.

Arsenio Hall: There's an attitude out there. There's some things going on. A lot of hopelessness. What do we need to do?
Fred Rogers: There's no simple answers, of course. But if we could, through television programs, as well as every other imaginable program, let people know that each one of us is precious.

Cast

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