Saving Mr. Banks

Academy Award winning actors Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson come together to tell the story of how Mary Poppins found its way into the hearts of families everywhere in Saving Mr. Banks. Walt Disney (Hanks) has been trying to acquire the rights to make Mary Poppins into a movie from P.L. Travers (Thompson). As they meet to negotiate the details of the film, Disney begins to learn how difficult it will be to make Travers happy. 

Travers is an unhappy person in general. She doesn't understand the pleasantries of social interaction, and she believes children should be taught how awful the world really is before being tossed into it blind. Also, she abhors the idea of Mary Poppins having any animation or musicality to it at all.

The film flashes between 1906 Australia, during Travers' childhood, and the negotiations with Disney. Colin Farrell plays Traver's loving father whose image is slowly tarnished throughout the flashbacks through his alcohol abuse. Farrell gives a heartbreaking performance to say the least. The whole back story behind the idea of Mary Poppins is so interesting, considering how different from the book it turned out to be. Much like the original versions of fairy tales, Disney took something somewhat demented and turned it into something appropriate and lovable for children.

Tom Hanks had sold me as Walt Disney from the beginning. I know Disney was probably not nearly as nice as he was portrayed in the film, but Hanks just sells the warmth and kindness that comes with the character. There's a monologue he gives near the end of the movie that just makes you think "I'm not watching a movie, Walt Disney is telling me a story." I don't know if he'll get a nomination for this, but you can tell he wants one.

Emma Thompson warms hearts in this movie. She can be funny when she's being mean, but she can make you shed tears of joy when she succumbs to the musical temptation. I am not afraid to say that I teared up as they presented Travers with "Let's Go Fly a Kite." It was a beautiful moment to behold.

Travers and Disney clash together so perfectly. Disney is energetic, caring, and prefers to be called Walt. Travers wishes to be called Mrs. Travers, and can be rather stuck-up in relation to most Americans. The story of these two opposites slowly connecting and bonding makes this such a heartwarming film.

Paul Giamatti plays Travers' driver for the duration of her stay in California, and you don't even know his name. He and Thompson had a development similar to Driving Miss Daisy without the racism. That's just how great it felt when the two of them finally connected.

B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman are composers of the music for the movie, and they're just entertaining. It's fun to watch Novak get upset and mouth off occasionally, and Schwartzman's piano skills were a great medium for emotion through the characters. Bradley Whitford plays Don DaGradi, co-writer of the Mary Poppins movie, being as friendly and careful as a Disney employee should be.

SPOILERS: The following paragraph may cover some sensitive plot details. Proceed with caution.

The "real" Mary Poppins, which I guess is Traver's aunt, has so little time on the screen, that you don't see her importance in the inspiration for Mary Poppins. All we understand are the appearance and the bags. There are several parts of these flashbacks that we don't completely understand. A suicide attempt and the inspiration for Mary Poppins in particular, however there are so many small things that Travers does in the beginning of the film that are slowly explained, keeping the audience's interest in the story.

SPOILERS END HERE

Saving Mr. Banks is the heartwarming story we never heard about the story that we all loved. It's certainly carried on the actors' shoulders, but this will make you want to watch Mary Poppins the second you walk out of the theater.

Rating: A+