I am so lucky that I get the opportunity to attend so many different movie screenings. Some of them I do pay for on top of my union dues, but that cost is still much lower than what movies in the theaters cost. I know lots of people have different movie subscriptions through theaters now so they can see things as cheaply as I can. But there is one rare bonus that I get sometimes through my union.
It’s not often that this happens, but sometimes the screening I go to is before the movie is released in theaters. I’ve only had a few of these screenings and it’s always been so much fun to get to see something early. They sometimes make a big deal over it being a pre-release screening and there are extra rules, but this time they didn’t say much so I didn’t realize it was a pre-release until I got there.
And the movie I got to see early was “A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood” starring Tom Hanks.
I was already excited to see this movie because I knew it was going to be good. I can’t remember a movie with Tom Hanks that I didn’t enjoy. And I loved the documentary about Mr. Rogers that came out recently so I was looking forward to seeing what this movie would show about his life. I knew it was based on a magazine article, but I didn’t research the article too much so the movie would still be a bit of a surprise for me. I did do a bit of research and read the article after watching the movie, and they did change a bit. But I don’t think they took anything away from the real story, they only added to it. I do encourage people to check out the article, but I would recommend seeing the movie first.
I don’t want to spoil things, so I’m not going to discuss the plot too much. But in my opinion, Mr. Rogers isn’t the main character. The writer of the article is really the lead and what he is able to show in his journey is so beautiful and makes the movie. I loved what they showed, and even though I know they embellished what the true story was, it added to the experience knowing it was based on something that really happened.
I went into the movie prepared to cry, and I did cry. A lot. I had tears in my eyes as soon as it started. Tom Hanks just does such an incredible job playing Mr. Rogers and you forget that you are watching someone playing someone else. It just seems so real. And I cried plenty during the movie. Sometimes it was happy tears and sometimes it was sad tears. And the closing scene made me cry too. I honestly don’t remember crying this much in other movies, but I also know I was a bit more emotional than I normally am so that might have been a factor in it. But all the tears were worth it because I really loved this movie.
There is so much sadness and negativity in the world and this movie was a great example of how you can work through that. The idea is not to ignore the negativity or to not experience it in your life. Life isn’t always perfect and we can’t expect it to be that way. But we can learn how to work with what may come our way and how to not let it bring us down or take away from good things in the world. I know I needed to be reminded of this and it was really the perfect thing for me to watch. I was able to be entertained by the movie but also take away a great life lesson. I think that makes a movie that much better.
I think that most of my friends are excited to see this movie too. And I’m sure that it will be nominated for various awards so maybe I’ll have the chance to see another screening of it or maybe I’ll be lucky and get a screener at my house for it. I know I want to watch it at least one more time because I think I’ll get something different out of it from another viewing. But even if I don’t get another chance to see it, I’m so glad I was able to see it this time.
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