If I were a gambling man, I would start putting money down on Tom Hanks taking home the gold in this year’s Oscar race. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood sees Hanks portray beloved children’s show host Fred Rogers. The only thing Oscar voters love more than a good biopic is a bad one.

Hanks is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and he brings credibility to any project he takes on. Bolstering this film’s Oscar hopes is director Marielle Heller. Heller is one of my favourite up-and-coming directors, and she has two fantastic films under her belt; The Diary of a Teenage Girl and Can You Ever Forgive Me? — the latter garnering major awards consideration last year.

The film also stars Matthew Rhys, Wendy Makkena, Chris Cooper, Enrico Colantoni, Susan Kelechi Watson, and Tammy Blanchard.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood trailer:

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood synopsis:

Tom Hanks portrays Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a timely story of kindness triumphing over cynicism, based on the true story of a real-life friendship between Fred Rogers and journalist Tom Junod. After a jaded magazine writer (Emmy winner Matthew Rhys) is assigned a profile of Fred Rogers, he overcomes his skepticism, learning about empathy, kindness, and decency from America’s most beloved neighbor.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood arrives in theatres on November 22, 2019.