Movie Reaction: Won't You Be My Neighbor

Formula: Amy - drugs - drama - music - tragedy

I didn't grow up a Mr. Rogers fan. I avoided PBS shows as a kid. I had an unhealthy distrust of educational programming. I didn't like anything that prioritized education over entertainment. That probably explains a lot about how I turned out as an adult (or how I was built from day one depending on which side I the nature v. nurture argument you land on). I see the value now of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and Fred Rogers in general. So, even though I lack a childhood fondness for the program, I was still looking forward to this documentary a lot.

I needed Won't You Be My Neighbor. It's starting to feel like there are no good people anymore and that there never really were any to begin with. The list of public figures who don't have some dark secret or past gets smaller and smaller by the day. Really, anyone in the public eye has something, it seems. It's nice to know there's at least someone, a man who has been dead for over a decade, who doesn't have something to hide.

There is nothing magical about Won't You Be My Neighbor. It's an exhaustive look at Fred Rogers. It covers as many facets of his life as it can in 90 minutes: his background, how his show began, behind the scenes, his family life, his personal philosophy, etc. Director Morgan Neville is a capable documentary filmmaker. He knows how to organize everything in a way that plays well. He doesn't focus on any topic for too long. He gets out of the way and let's Fred Rogers be the star.

The doc stops just short of a hagiography. It makes token gestures at revealing his flaws - he didn't handle a coworker coming out that well at first he got a little grumpy as he got older, and that's about it. It's not much, but it at least acknowledges flaws. I appreciate any documentary that's confident enough to poke a couple holes in its argument. No one is coming out of this thinking Fred Rogers was anything but a good man. Maybe if you came in with a grudge already, but really, who the hell is so surly that they want to spend effort going after Mr. Rogers?

I liked Won't You Be My Neighbor a good deal. It brought me close enough to tears to count once or twice. I came out of the film with a greater appreciation for his show and some of the bold choices he made in it. I never felt like I was being lectured and I left the theater feeling a little bit better about people in general. What more could I ask for?

Verdict (?): Strongly Recommend