The audience clapped at the end, which is common for the west coast but not much for the Midwest. Enjoy this generally untold story of the making of Mary Poppins and the back-story of author P.L. Travers
Saving Mr. Banks (Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti) – Based on the very true tale of the making of Mary Poppins, Saving Mr. Banks is one of those “little films” with big stars that audiences love. Brought to you by Disney (not its more adult brand, Touchstone), this pure family story had Julie and I crying for most of the second half of the film.
The story is thin but the movie is rich in acting talent. Emma Thompson has been one of the world’s great actresses for decades, and she is in top form here as writer P.L. Travers, best known for writing a series of seven Mary Poppins’ books. Getting her to agree to make her 1934 debut book into a movie was more than an adventure.
Walt Disney had made a promise to his daughters that he would turn their favorite book into a movie and had pursued that with Travers and her agent for years. It wasn’t until her financial fortunes turned downward that she agreed to listen to his offer. As the movie chronicles, she couldn’t part with her classic. This reluctance was about far more than her stated worry that the founder of the movie empire and Disney parks would turn her story into a farce. Travers’ famous nanny represented her own personal story as we found out through a series of flashbacks to her childhood in Australia.
The story of Travers’ childhood is perhaps richer than the main plot about the very slow conversion of Travers from a witchy woman to a playwright. The scenes with her parents, particularly her father, Travers Goff (Colin Farrell is excellent form), are authentic. They paint a portrait of a loving father adored by his doting daughter and whose drinking eventually killed him. Director John Lee Hancock, whose The Blind Side and The Rookie were also silky sweet, uplifting films, handled connecting the two stories masterfully.
Oscar nominations are likely, but not certain, for both Thompson and Academy favorite Tom Hanks, who plays Disney with a sense of whimsy and commitment. The film is not all light and breezy, however. It is a deep story of love, agony, fear, passion and heartbreak. That is a perfect combination for a holiday film with a heart, one that will entertain and ignite a sense of magic just like Mary Poppins did when it debuted 50 years ago (it won 5 Oscars from 13 nominations).