A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood review: Tom Hanks disarming in soulful family drama

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Tom Hanks is at his most disarming and subtle as a real-life US TV icon in this soulful, therapeutic and ­irresistible family drama.

We’re not familiar with the saintly Fred Rogers over here, but for 33 years he hosted a Play Away-style kids show, and the film suggests he was so popular and beloved that he was capable of inspiring an impromptu sing-along on the subway simply by sitting there.

However, Matthew Rhys’s cynical investigative journalist is hoping to uncover some dirt beneath Rogers’ spotless halo.

This seems a fair proposition as the cardigan-wearing Rogers seems remarkably old-fashioned, even in 1998 when the film is set, and particularly as some TV stars of my 1970s’ childhood have been revealed to be far from wholesome.

Rhys is full of barely suppressed anger, which boils when he finds himself on the end of a gentle ­inquisition from Rogers regarding his own estranged relationship with his father and the difficulties of bonding with his baby son.

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Tom Hanks is typically splendid playing real-life children's television icon Fred Rogers in this delightful film from Marielle Heller

And you have to feel sorry for the actor as the superb Hanks quietly steals the film from him, earning himself a Best Supporting Actor nod with his sixth Oscar nomination.

An avuncular, polite, generous and humble dispenser of wisdom, Rogers often feels like a distant ­relative of Hanks’ 1995 Oscar-winning role as Forrest Gump.

And intent on bringing out the best in everyone he meets, he’s essentially an American Paddington Bear, but without the marmalade sandwiches.

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Cynical Esquire journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys) is sent to profile Rogers in 1998

Directed with a firm, sensitive and accomplished hand by Marielle Heller, she drives the movie from the back seat and allows the actors to hold our attention.

Though far less needy and attention-grabbing, her staging and camerawork are in their own way as impressive as those seen in the First World War film 1917, and she deploys the power of silence with a nuclear emotional efficiency.

Plus, the TV theme tune is impossibly catchy, so you’ll be humming it on the way out of the cinema through your tears.