As an exploration of the ‘making of’ process associated with
Mary Poppins, “Saving Mr. Banks”
offers engaging material, but the film gains emotional heft through a series of
(sometimes too many) flashbacks that unveil why the characters in Mary Poppins possessed great meaning for
its author, P. L. Travers. Moving back and forth between 1906 Australia and
1961 Los Angeles, the film provides a full portrait of the author, who is
played as a child by Annie Rose Buckley and as a 60-something woman by Emma
Thompson. The movie’s other standout performance is Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.
Just a warning: it’s almost impossible to watch this movie and not feel the
urge to seek out a copy of the Julie Andrews/Dick Van Dyke musical. And coincidence
of coincidences, Mary Poppins is
being released in a restored Blu-ray version with a number of special features
to commemorate Mary Poppins’ 50th
anniversary. Remarkable marketing, that.
The bulk of the movie transpires in the early 1960s. Disney
has flown Travers to Los Angeles in a last-ditch attempt to convince her to
sell him the rights. He allows her to meet the would-be screenwriter, Don
DaGradi (Bradley Whitford), and the Brothers Sherman, Robert (B. J. Novak) and
Richard (Jason Schwartzman), who have been hired to write the songs. He gives
her a chatty driver (Paul Giamatti), allows her to critique the script and
expresses to her what Mary Poppins
means to him. History tells us that Travers relented but “Saving Mr. Banks”
shows how difficult a process it was. Flashbacks to Travers’ early life in
Australia are interwoven and they tell of eight-year-old Ginty as she and her family
settles in an isolated ramshackle home. Her father, Travers Goff (Colin
Farrell), views this as a great adventure and you can see how his daughter
adores him. Unfortunately, he is an alcoholic and this proves to be his
downfall. No fewer than ten of the Sherman Brothers’ songs are used in one form
or another and a highlight occurs when Travers hears ‘Let’s go Fly a Kite’ for
the first time, the song that ‘saves’ Mr. Banks. Coupled with the nostalgia of Mary Poppins, “Saving Mr. Banks” proves
to be more than a ‘based on a true story’ tale. 12/16/13
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