Cinema: Saving Mr. Banks

Summary
Before Mary Poppins was brought to the Silver Screen and touching the hearts of children everywhere, there was the battle of wills to make it happen. Author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) butts heads with Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) in the production and adaptation of her story and characters. When the two reach an impasse, we discover that Travers regards Mary Poppins as more than just a literary character, and that Disney may have been mistaken that Mary Poppins did not come to save the children. She came to save Mr. Banks...
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When I first saw the trailer for Saving Mr. Banks when I watched Frozen back in November 2013, I was immediately curious; based on the "true" story of the troubled production of Mary Poppins? Tom Hanks as Disney? Delving into the psyche of author P.L. Travers? Tom Hanks as Disney? Tom Hanks as Disney? Showing the drama between Disney and Travers? Tom Hanks as Disney? You get the idea.

I admit that I would not put Mary Poppins as my personal favorite (That would be Bedknobs and Broomsticks) live action Disney film. But it's definitely among my top five and for good reason. As a kid I remember the songs, characters and Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins. But I think even then I knew that the movie had a much deeper meaning. I somehow knew that the core character of Mary Poppins was Mr. Banks and that he is the one that Mary Poppins helps. The last time I watched it as an adult was a few years ago, and I appreciated the movie even more for what it was.

With that in mind, like any great movie, it's hard to imagine that it supposedly had a troubled production. Saving Mr. Banks goes into said process. It is basically a dramatization of P.L. Travers butting heads with Walt Disney and the scriptwriting & songwriting over how her story and characters would be adapted onto the big screen. At the same time, the movie also delves into the childhood and troubled past of Travers that directly links to making of Mary Poppins.

Normally I am not one to watch dramas in the cinema. Cinema-going experiences for me are best for animated and action movies. The trailer and the premise really got me interested, so I waited impatiently for the film to arrive with slight expectations. So what did I think of it? I rather liked it. It was a good drama with a strong cast. There were a few issues though.

First, the two main leads. As you can guess from above, I really had my doubts with Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Tom Hanks is a great actor and all but it just felt pretty surreal and sounded like something out of a comedy sketch show. Fortunately, he managed to pull off both sides of Walt pretty well. Hanks was able to portray Disney's lighter and fun side, a happy and giddy man-child that gave warm smiles and was friendly towards everyone he met. But he also got Disney's "darker side" down pat too. He smoked, he lied, he cheated, he had a subtle hit of greediness, and his determination knew no bounds. All around a great performance that ranks up there with his roles in Castaway, Forrest Gump, and the Toy Story trilogy.

Then there is P.L. Travers, played by Emma Thompson. I have not seen much of Thompson's work, but I heard she is a great actress, and this movie is no exception. Travers in real life was supposedly a very bitter, grouchy and clingy woman. Whether or not the portrayal of Travers in the movie was over-played for the sake of drama, I still felt Thompson did great. She was blunt, forceful, selfish and completely unsympathetic. Yet as we progress through the movie, we get to see her other side and we empathize with her. Thompson was at her best here when she portrayed Travers in every other emotion besides angry. When she was sad, you could just feel she was sad. When she was happy, you were happy too. Without a doubt, she did a great job.

Then we have the supporting cast. The only other two cast members I was familiar with was Colin Farrel (Minority Report) as the father of Travers, and Paul Giamatti (Saving Private Ryan) as Ralph the chauffeur. Both also did good in their roles, and the rest of the supporting cast also gave strong performances. Major kudos goes to the two guys who played the songwriting duo "The Sherman Bros", who originally created the iconic songs of Mary Poppins. The charisma of the two leads and the supporting cast is definitely one of the positives I can give about the film.

The story is where we get a little bit mixed though. The story is divided and juxtaposed with two parts: Travers & Disney with the production of Mary Poppins in the 1960's, and Travers' childhood in the 1910's. Everything in the 1960's was great and perfect, but the 1910's stuff...

This is my problem with the movie. Her (slightly fictionalized) childhood was nice and added to the drama, but it often cut and weaved into the 1960's story when you least expected it. The movie was roughly two hours and fifteen minutes and whenever the story shifted to the 1910's, I found myself getting impatient and wanted the movie to get back to the 1960's and making of Mary Poppins. In other words, they inserted way too many 1910's moments. If they had lessened them slightly I would give it more leeway, but as it stood I felt they could have trimmed it down.

That being said, the ending of the movie does make the scenes all worth it and encapsulates Travers' character. So I guess its not so much the end result, but the process to get there. I also feel that, in order to fully understand and appreciate this movie, you need to have seen Mary Poppins. As seen in the trailer, there are tons of moments in the movie that either directly reference Mary Poppins the movie or are little homages. I actually saw this movie with a friend who had no knowledge of Mary Poppins, and prior to going into the theater I had to explain it. He later admitted that if he didn't know about Mary Poppins, he would have been bored. Perhaps those who seek drama may get a kick out of this movie, but it's certainly not friendly to those who have not seen Mary Poppins.
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Final Thoughts
All in all Saving Mr Banks was an enjoyable movie, bolstered by an incredibly strong cast, great drama, and a good decent half of the story. The other half of the story may be turnoff for those who are more enamored towards the actual making of Mary Poppins instead of Travers' childhood and may get bored by it. Whether or not the ending of the movies makes up for that is entirely up to you. I personally felt it was worth it, and I do not regret seeing it in the theaters.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Trailer Thoughts
Heaven is for Real: Looks like it's based off a book. Nothing much to say. People might enjoy it, but I won't watch it.

Need for Speed: I already watched this movie back when it was called "The Fast and the Furious".

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: I really, REALLY did not care for the first Amazing Spider-Man. This new one looks more interesting I'll give it that, but I'm still not watching. I washed my hands of Spider-Man movies after the trilogy with Tobey McGuire.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier- Massively excited. Liked Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, so I can't wait to see the continuation of the "Phase 2" Marvel movies.

Muppets Most Wanted: Loved the previous Muppet movie and got huge laughs from that. This new one looks like it will top the previous movie in terms of humor, story and cast. Tina Fey and her accent was hilarious.

Maleficent: They showed the old first trailer, which didn't grab my attention when I first saw it in Frozen. But I'm already set to watch this after seeing the second trailer on Youtube.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Dreamworks' MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN