I saw the trailer for this movie when i sat down to see Frozen. My interest was piqued because Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson are easily two of my favorite actors and according to the trailer, they seem to bounce off of each other quite nicely.

So here’s my round up of John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side)’s Saving Mr. Banks.

Please note that there may be spoilers. Read at your own risk.

THE STORY:

Acerbic London-woman P. L. Travers (Emma Thompson – Beautiful Creatures, the Harry Potter series), author of beloved childhood novels Mary Poppins, finds everything twinkling and fancy to be utter nonsensical and silly. This makes the fact that Walt Disney (Tom Hanks – Toy Story, Forrest Gump) himself has been wooing her for over two decades to secure the film rights to her beloved book very painful for because the author wouldn’t even agree to a meeting. Unfortunately Mrs. Travers is at the cusps of bankruptcy and, upon the urging of her agent/friend Ronan Vibert (Diarmuid Russell), she agrees to fly to Los Angeles to work on the proposed script, and vows to not hand over the rights until she is secure in knowing that her Mary Poppins will not be bastardized by the Disney team.

Here the musical Sherman Brothers Richard (Jason Schwartzmann – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) and Robert (B. J. Novak – The Mindy Project), writer Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford – The Cabin in the Woods), chauffeur Ralph (Paul Giamatti – Romeo and Juliet) along with Walt himself has their work cut out for them because it seems that the formidable Mrs. Travers is hell-bent on saying ‘no’ to every idea they pitch to her.

THE GOOD:

1. Emma Thompson was absolutely flawless. This woman had such understanding of the character that even though they made P.L. Travers as unlikable as possible, you still can’t help but root for her. All scenes were effective and major props for letting the cameras zoom in that close. I must say that I am loving her in weird author roles – I loved her in Stranger Than Fiction and I loved her in this one. It’s a testament to her star power when your attention doesn’t waver one bit despite the fact that you’re staring at her face for a good half of the movie.
2. Tom Hanks. Let’s face it, nobody else could’ve portrayed Walt Disney other than this man. He summed up the shrewd businessman, son, loving father and media persona in one lovely and lovable package. Considering that this is a Disney film, I don’t think they made very many edits on their head honcho’s character – he was still flawed and some of the selfishness still shone through – which was great because that made him infinitely more relatable.
3. Paul Giammati. Man, that was a trip. It’s a small role but one that’s hard hitting and effective. I came out of the cinema tearing up at his character’s connection to the rude and brash author. He played it so subtly and with such grace that it didn’t come off as shocking, cheesy or contrived when Ralph finally broke through Pamela’s defenses.
4. Colin Farrell. I was blown away by how good he was in this film. I knew that he was a capable actor but the last time I saw him play a character with such intensity was in 2002’s Phone Booth. Here he plays an incredibly damaged man, one who loves his daughters but cannot seem to find the strength to battle his own demons. One can argue that the film makers glorified his struggles, which should be hateful, but personally I don’t mind. After all, the story is supposed to be seen through his daughter’s eyes.
5. Everybody in the cast. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small role or not, but everybody – and I do mean everybody – gave an outstanding performance. No one was trying to ham it up and no one was trying to upstage anybody which made for a well-balanced beautiful movie.
6. The seamless transition of the flashbacks to the modern-day scenes. I think it’s very difficult to pull off that kind of balance, where the both stories are propelled forward at the expense of the other, so kudos to the film makers for that.

THE BAD:

1. I could’ve used more scenes with Aunt Ellie. I’m nitpicking, of course, but as somebody who hasn’t seen the original Mary Poppins movie, I could’ve used more material to work with as she ‘tried to fix everything’.

THE UGLY:
None. It’s a good movie.

THE VERDICT: 8.7/10. Must see, for the feels.

*All photos are lifted from the film’s IMDB page.