Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

The truth, a little of the truth, so far from the truth. I read the original novels, and they are indeed pretty far from the Disney Treatment (capitals are in order) they got; yet, I really love the movie (Mary Poppins, that is), but I can also see why Mrs. Travers loathed it. And I read about the real encounter between Walt Disney (a way more unpleasant person than pictured here) and Mrs. Travers, and once again, this is its Disney Treatment. Once again, I liked the movie, a lot; yet once again I see where someone could loathe it. The Disney Treatment is responsible of the popularization of many famous or obscure tales (as an Italian, I'm thinking of Pinocchio); and, at the very same time, it is responsible for their massacre in an orgy of sugary coating. That Pamela Travers had to suffer this twice, is way too cruel. Summing it up: 9 to the movie per se, 5 to the Disney Treatment of reality.

Fmovies: Emma Thompson is great fun to watch, always. Here, she plays Mrs Travers the one who dared to say no to Walt Disney. The movie, made by the Disney studios, would have us believe that Walt Disney was, well...Tom Hanks. No. Impossible, incredible, almost laughable but thanks to the power of the stars one can sit through it, thoroughly entertained by this work of fiction. The imperious character played by Emma Thompson as a theatrical rather than a cinematic experience is nonetheless engaging and moving. The flashbacks were, if you permit the impudence, a total miscalculation. They come back with annoying regularity and instead of adding, they detract from the central story. My favorite parts were the meeting between Mrs Travers and Saint Walt Disney in London and Mrs Travers inviting herself and sitting at the premiere of Mary Poppins.

"Saving Mr. Banks" is an exquisite film. It draws you in with the delightful reality of Disney as well as the triumphantly stark reality (inasmuch as it is reality; I do lack her background) of Mrs. Travers. I purposely leave out parts of the film for the sake of the movie-goer, but let me say how delightful the songs are, the people are, the displays of emotion-- my part as well, as I nearly cried and fully laughed at certain points throughout. The film speaks to me and it feels complete in its currency-- tuppence, if you will-- in taking Mrs. Travers' story and embellishing it with the truth of the creators' (both Travers and Disney, for the part he has in the creation of the film) lives. The lives of the characters-- and I do mean most people seen on screen, in particular the driver and Mrs. Travers' mother-- are well-told and well-lived, and spark a certain comfort and warmth, even in the cold of their realities and harsher backstories. I believe the film has done its job beautifully, and I wouldn't change it for the world. Even the animated penguins, although for me there is still my deep and abiding love for their real counterparts.

Saving Mr. Banks fmovies. "Saving Mr. Banks" is easily one of the best movies to come out this year. It tells the tale behind the making of Disney's beloved classic "Mary Poppins," but it is so much more than just a typical 'making of a movie' movie. While many of these types of films aren't as good as the movie they are about, this one is different. It feels like a companion piece to the beloved classic. It allows us to appreciate the trials and tribulations Disney had to go through to make his magnum opus. However, it is also more about P.L. Traverse and why she loves her character so much and why Mary Poppins holds such a special place in her heart.

Director John Lee Hancock does a great job of making this film something truly special. He balances witty humor with emotional depth, but does so without being too sappy or melodramatic. The film is also well written by being more personal than just being a movie about making a movie. The themes of letting and moving on are handled well and really becomes relatable to anyone watching.

The performances are top-notch. Tom Hanks makes a pretty good Disney and he isn't sugar coated either. The real standouts are Emma Thompson and Colin Farrell. They give strong dimensional performances that makes us truly care and sympathies with the characters.

Overall "Saving Mr. Banks" is a truly great and beautifully told film. Its individual parts may not be the years best, but as a complete film it is the whole package. It's a movie that exemplifies why we go to the movies and what Disney stands for as an entertainment corporation. It is a movie that is equal parts heartfelt, witty, charming, entertaining, and emotionally satisfying. I give it 5/5

Despite watching the trailer and knowing the broad story, Saving Mr. Banks still managed to surprise me. It's a beautiful, tender film that manages to be sad without being mawkish, funny without detracting from the emotion and with far greater depth than expected. Unfolding the story of Walt Disney's attempt to persuade P.L. Travers to sell him the rights to her beloved Mary Poppins, Saving Mr. Banks is a delightful film that is deceptively emotional and flows smoothly enough to be entirely engaging. Travers (Emma Thompson) thwarts Disney's (Tom Hanks) attempts to secure the rights for twenty years until a flatlining bank balance and a mildly panicking agent persuade her to at least consider Disney's proposition or lose her home with certainty. Whisking her to Hollywood and bombarding her with all things Disney, the master of the House of Mouse spares no expense or effort to woo Mrs Travers and persuade her to allow him to keep his promise to his daughters to film the books they loved so much. But nothing prepares him for the stubborn, exacting curmudgeon who challenges him at every twist and turn and demands and demeans in equal measures. After the recent Captain Phillips, in which Hanks was astounding, there is a very good chance that he may join an exclusive group (of twelve so far, including co-star Emma Thompson) of actors to be nominated for two Oscars in the same year. Even more rarely, he'll deserve both nominations! Quite simply, it is impossible to imagine another actor in the role of Uncle Walt. He oozes charisma and his smile is used for so much more than merely expressing happiness. There is a genuine warmth to Hanks' performance and this is one of those rare occasions where I temporarily forgot I was watching him. He's been a very good actor for many, many years, but this year I've had to reassess my opinion of him and state that he has transcended his deserved 'movie stardom' to become a very fine actor indeed. Unsurprisingly (and most welcome), Hanks is matched every single step of the way by Thompson. There is a magical thawing in her Travers in the course of Saving Mr. Banks where she pokes her head out of her hard, crispy chrysalis and threatens to become a warm(ish), witty woman. Early on in the film, it is difficult to like Travers as her demands become more extreme, her retorts more cutting and her demeanour downright unpleasant, but Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith's screenplay weaves the story of the film rights with the tale of Travers' troubled childhood to give reason for her crustiness and context to her literary creation. It is this aspect of Saving Mr. Banks that surprises most and completes the film. Director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) approaches each side of his female protagonist's life very differently and her buried history is shot in muted, dusty colours with a jagged Western romanticism that tempers the bleak happenings that shaped the girl into the woman. Colin Farrell is on his best form for years as Travers Goff, the drunk father who lives in his own fantastic world of imagination and adventure to escape the harsh reality of the real world. He is a man who fails consistently and knows it, but loves his daughter unequivocally. As with Hanks and Thompson, the chemistry between Farrell and Annie Rose Buckley (playing Ginty, the young Travers) is effortlessly beautiful. The casting is just one of the joys of Saving Mr. Banks, with Paul Giamatti chief amongst the supporting actors as Travers'

From the studio that brought you Mary Poppins, Disney has released a biopic about the author of the original novels, P.L Travers. Saving Mr. Banks is the story of her battles with Walt Disney, who wants the rights to the film adaptation, in a dramatic comedy that is both witty and sentimental.

Mrs. Pamela P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) has been hounded by Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and the Disney Corporation for 20 years for the film rights to her book and she has refused constantly. But by 1961, she has run out of money and agrees to go to Los Angeles for two weeks to work with the writing team to see if a deal can be struck. Her conditions are that the film cannot be animated, there are no songs and she has final script approval. Travers quickly clashes with creative team and Walt himself, a man who promised his daughters he would adapt the book.

As this is going on Travers reflects on her childhood in rural Australia, with her father (Colin Farrell), a loving man who feeds his daughter's imagination, but an alcoholic with probable depression and how these events influenced her writing.

Saving Mr. Banks is a film armed with excellent screenplay and a top notch cast. As well as the likes of Thompson, Hanks and Farrell, Saving Mr. Banks also features Bradley Whittaker, Jason Schwartzman, Paul Giamatti, B.J. Novak and Ruth Wilson. They all offer strong performances and have given us very well defined characters. Thompson dominates as Travers, a no nonsense woman with poor social skills and a British Bulldog stubbornness/determination and injects a deadpan humour with the witty lines she was given. Thompson also brings out the emotion, the serious aspects of the character, as the shadows of her past still linger over her.

One of the big themes of the film is the writing process, both the individual, personal aspect and the collaborative effect of a film adaptation. Saving Mr. Banks shows that many writers use they personal experience and life and become a part of the author. It is hard for writers to let go and particularly for Travers, as she has so much invested in Mary Poppins, so much of herself in it. Her books allowed her to have some wish fulfilment.

The screenwriters Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, director John Lee Hancock and editor Mark Livoisi worked brilliant to blending the story of Travers butting heads with Disney's creative team and her backstory about her childhood influencing her writing. There are plenty of transitions, allowing Hancock to have some fancy pans. One particular noticeable sequence is when the creative team performs one of the songs and Travers has a flashback. The film slowly reveals how Travers childhood and her father became a part of her writing, used in the books and become a part of the themes of her books and philosophies. This is particularly the case with her parents and their inabilities to cope, both Travers' father's alcoholism and mother's inability to cope with the stress, leading to her theme of responsibility. For a film that is about the writing process, Saving Mr. Banks never really shows about the writing process that Travers goes through, but explores the writing process of adapting a work, from one medium to another.

The final theme and a big part of the comedy comes from the clashes of cultures and personalities. Travers is a brash personality with formal, conservative approach and lives a modest lifestyle in London and a rustic life in Australia. This in comparison to the overtly friendly American and their glamour a