Move Review: "Saving Mr. Banks"

Hey movie fans! Due to some computer problems, just text this week.

There are three big movies coming out this weekend... but I only got an invite to one of them. Not that I'm bitter... no. I mean, I would have loved to see "The Hobbit" or "American Hustle," but hey, this is a good film also. Fine film. Enjoyed it. Honest.

Not bitter.

Anyway... "Saving Mr. Banks" tells the highly fictionalized, a more than a bit slanted, view of how Walt Disney was able to get the rights to "Mary Poppins." Emma Thompson plays a very prim and proper, (and, yes, prickly and persnickety) Mrs. P.L. Travers, creator of "Mary Poppins," and Tom Hanks as the charming, demanding, "Walt Disney."

In this telling of the tale, Thompson is out of money, and in need of funds, so she finally gives into requests from Disney to begin production on the film version of her beloved children's book.  As soon as she arrives, however it is clear that Mrs. Travers is against everything that Disney stands for... that being light, mass marketable, colorful, and bright. As the film develops, we see into Travers past, through a series of flashbacks to her home in Australia, and her alcoholic, but loving father. It set's a dark undertow to the film trying in the most simplistic of ways to explain why Travers is so hard to deal with, and why she is so protective of the "Poppins" story.

Both Thomson and Hanks to a great job with their roles. Their dynamic, while a bit two dimensional, is charming. With all of Hanks/Disney's warmth, you can't help but hope his charm melts her heart, and everyone ends up flying a kite at the end. The supporting cast helps enforce that theme, but are little more than side characters designed to react to the others antics, or to provide some childlike wisdom. Again, two dimensional, but they do good work with those two dimensions, and their roles play well in what is supposed to be, at its heart, and more lighthearted, emotional film.

I enjoyed how accurate they attempted to be with the historical setting as well. I would have loved to have seen more of the Disney that was, but I'll admit, I'm a bit of a Disney history buff. My favorite touches actually came in the credits, when we got to see some of the original sketches from the production crew, and hear some of the audio recordings Travers made with the writers. On a related note, for not being a musical, this film is able to use the sound from the movie to great effect here, even making one song a near climatic point in the movie.

Parents, a heads up: While there is nothing wrong with bringing your kid to this film, it is not a kids movie. Despite including "Mary Poppins" history, this is a very slow and emotional film that deals with some heavy topics. Then again, maybe you're trying to get your kids to fall asleep...

Before I wrap up, I did want to take a time out and talk about my only real problem with the film, and it didn't have to do with the film as much as it did the real historical account. While I accept that in the films narrative, Travers is supposed to be an unhappy, and very hard to deal with woman, it comes off often as attacking her as being... well... a bitch. The film takes time to try and explain why she feels this way, before Disney's charm melts her heart. In reality, the Travers had every right to be picky, and complain about what Disney was doing with her film. This is her most famous, and prized creations, and she's defending her work. Whatever her motivation, she should protect it. And, in the end, Disney pretty much ignored all of the things she had demanded from the film version. (Most of all, the animated segments.) I had wondered why there was no closing cell to explain what happened after the the movie was released, but now I know... Travers was NEVER happy with the movie. She complained to Disney the day it premiered, and when she died, she stipulated that another film version would never be made from her works. And, you know what, she was right! Ask anyone under 50 now about "Mary Poppins," and they will think of the Julie Andrews, and the dancing penguins. No one remembers the prim, proper, and (while magical) very stern "Mary Poppins" of the books. Travers, for all of her fussiness, was proven right. This isn't even getting into her being depicted as a lonely spinster, or attacking her for daring to be a woman who stands up for herself, and is unwilling to compromise what she considers quality.

Anyway, rant over. Like I've said before, I rate my reviews on the movie I see, and not on what transpired behind the scenes, even if what happened behind the scenes was the truth. So, when looking at the movie, by itself, I found it to be a charming, if somewhat predictable piece of Disney cheering for itself.

Now, I have to try and score some tickets to the Friday 10:45 showing of "The Hobbit."