A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)

If you happen to have seen the actual children's tv show or perhaps the 2018 documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor?, or even better, if you've read the Esquire magazine article upon which this movie is based, you will know not to expect a child sex scandal during the story of Lloyd Vogel, a bitter, unhappy journalist who has a series of therapeutic encounters with the hero-worshipped children's television show presenter, Mr Rogers, an inner child whisperer...and an oddbod stare-bear if Tom Hanks' rather creepy portrayal is to be believed.

★★★☆☆

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Adaptation (2002)

Adapting US journalist Susan Orlean's novel The Orchid Thief for the big screen causes screenplay writer Charlie Kaufman an existential crisis because it is a largely narrative-free contemplation on flowers and disappointment, but by inserting himself into the story and finding parallels between his own midlife crisis and the article's eponymous hero Laroche's obsessive work hunting the elusive ghost orchid, Kaufman succeeds in creating a thought-provoking and often funny, self-referential drama that won Meryl Streep an Oscar for her performance as Orlean.

★★★★☆

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