This will truly be one of the hardest things I have ever written in my life.  As a reviewer I try to avoid speaking in first person, but given this is a documentary and I will be more so conveying how the movie made me feel I find it hard to avoid.  I feel a tremendous burden right now to properly influence an entire nation to see this movie and I hope by the end of this review I will have convinced you of just that.

I am so glad that the people at Tremolo Productions decided to take on this project.  The story of Fred Rogers is one that needed to be told and the time to tell that story was now.  I have never shed more single tears in such a short time span.  I viewed this movie through a window pane of emotional tears the majority of the time.  Some caused by joy, others sadness.  Some due to the immense compassion displayed by one human being, others due to the savagery of humanity.  By the end of the movie I realized that the tears were caused by different scenes and emotions, but were coming from the same place.  A place of knowing that Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood is not somewhere I can physically go and that hurts my heart.  I realized how badly I need to go to a place of unconditional love.  A place of acceptance.  A place of tolerance.  A place that takes all of your fears, insecurities and phobias and washes them away with sun rays of hope.  With the winds of acceptance, and most importantly, endless showers of love.  To think a single man with a vision of helping children could manifest such a space and bring it to the world boggles my mind.  Those of us who were so fortunate to have grown up with the teachings of Mr. Rogers will walk away with a tremendous amount of appreciation for who the man was and everything he stood for.  I think back to my own childhood memories and I don’t have many where he is predominantly featured, although I know its was regularly on my television growing up.  Walking out of the theatre is when I realized that despite not having specific memories, he undoubtedly shaped my life.  That his teachings have been woven into the fabric of my soul and can be credited for a portion of who I am today.  I truly left feeling as if that man draped a golden sweater on the essence of who I am that I still wear to this day.

As far as production of this film goes I will be shocked if it doesn’t win every award that it can.  The interviews, the editing, the score, and the content are nothing less than excellent.  There was no shortage of archival footage and they did a phenomenal job at selecting and editing them in a way to properly do this mans life justice.  Through the telling of this mans life you can truly see how profoundly he affected those around him.  From children to adults, those that were touched by Fred Rogers’ life were left knowing they had been in the presence of a unique and precious human being and that is portrayed in every story told about the man.

Bring your entire family to see this movie.  The entire family.  Children above the age of five will benefit from the example he sets as a compassionate and philosophical man.  Adults will benefit from being reminded of the lessons we were once taught that the harshness of life has drowned out.  We should all be reminded of the fictional neighborhood we were brought to everyday by a man that dedicated his life to nurturing the ones in our society who are most precious to us all. Those of us who often have no voice or advocate.  Parents often struggle with finding the ways to handle the adversities of life and still have the time or emotional fortitude to give their children the emotional support and life lessons that are so important to developing a fragile and emotional mind.  Fred Rogers took on some of that burden for an entire country spanning across multiple generations.  Fred Rogers was a national hero that you can honor by sharing in his life story and I truly believe that it is one of the most vital things you can do this year, if not your lifetime.  Thank you Fred Rogers for helping make me the man I am and there will never be another day going forward that I will not acknowledge that fact.