Composite Score: 86.3

Featuring: Fred Rogers, Margaret Whitmer, Tom Junod, Joanne Rogers, Jim Rogers, Max King, Hedda Sharapan, Betty Seamans, Junlei Li, Joe Negri, David Newell, Yo-Yo Ma, and François Scarborough Clemmons

Director: Morgan Neville

Genres: Documentary, Biography, History

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some thematic elements and language

Box Office: $22.84 million worldwide

My take on Watching This Film:

                Won’t You Be My Neighbor? is Morgan Neville’s documentary about the life, career, and legacy of Fred Rogers, better known as television personality Mr. Rogers. The film follows his career from his beginnings as a Pittsburgh children’s education producer to ordained minister to defender of public television to household name, using archive footage, animated segments, and current interviews to tell the story of Mr. Rogers and explain why his legacy remains so important in the years that have come since the end of his show in 2001 and his death in 2003. The blend of friends, coworkers, biographers, acquaintances, and family members who weigh in on Rogers’s life ends up showcasing well the lasting impact of Fred Rogers’s life mission and the ways that we can continue to carry it on today.

                Perhaps it’s because Mr. Rogers is such a ubiquitous name for my generation and those prior, but this documentary hit home quite personally for me, as I watched it. His intentionality in every interaction is what shone through more than anything, as each person talking spoke of the man as one would of a best friend and/or father figure, and that sense of intentional relationality carries through in the film’s archival footage, showing Rogers’s hope that people will choose to love each other before anything else. His activism and influence on major issues of the day remains one of the more impactful pieces of the film, as it explores the ways that he used his show to tackle poignant issues like the Vietnam war, the assassination of Robert Kennedy, racial discrimination, superhero shows, and even the ways that he, himself, grew as a result of his interactions with others, showcased in his family’s descriptions of Fred and in the touching stories from floor manager Nick Tallo and from actor François Scarborough Clemmons. It’s a feel-good documentary that reminds its audience of Rogers’s message of love, yes, but that also reminds us to seek to know those around us, to let kids be kids, and to pursue peace and justice with no external agendas.

                The ways that Won’t You Be My Neighbor stays true to the message and legacy of Mr. Rogers are what makes the film so excellent, offering an equal parts biography of Rogers and life lesson from the man himself even beyond the grave. It’s a prime example of what documentaries can be, even if it’s probably best watched with a box of tissues at the ready. Currently, you can stream this film on Netflix, if you’d like to watch it.