Saving Mr. Banks

 Hey guys, I'm your habitually tardy film blogger, TheCinemaChick! I'm about 2 weeks behind with all my reviews but I'm going to catch up. So if I bombard you with reviews, I'm caught up. My last movie was “12 Years a Slave” which was a very moving film that has left a huge impact on me. This film is also emotional, but nowhere near as intense as “12 Years”.


Folks, let's look at “Saving Mr. Banks”.


I know, this one came out late last year, but I did not get around to seeing it until this year. Actually, I resisted this one because I thought it would be kind of cheesy and sappy. Fry convinced me to give in and see it. Well, it was not what I was expecting. It has moments where it was a little too much for me but overall, its enjoyable. Emma Thompson is brilliant, Tom Hanks is spot on and even the smaller roles are perfect. The casting director deserves a medal for this one.


**Spoilers Ahead!**


Thompson stars as P.L. Travers, the woman who penned the Mary Poppins books. Yes, there are books, not just the one. She was a very difficult woman to work with, shooting down any ideas the music writers had, throwing the script from the window and being fairly demanding. The woman wouldn't even show kindness when taking her tea, unless it was done her way. Milk first, then tea, then sugar. Towards the beginning of the film, she is so unlikeable, I hated to movie right off the bat. I didn't want to watch but you know, you pay to see it, why waste the money? I didn't even like Walt Disney at first. He was confident and cocky and just rubbed me the wrong way..


Yet, as the movie went along and I got to know more about Travers, I began to like her. I also learned the true story of how Mary Poppins came to be. The story is much sadder than I originally knew. It's based on the author's actual life and how she had a nanny. The nanny tried to help the family when the father was sick. However, unlike the film, this story does not have a happy ending. He dies and she blames the nanny for his death. So it turns out Mary Poppins is there to save the father, not the children.


The film itself can be a bit jarring since it can cut between present and past with no warning. Recognize the mother in this film? If you saw “The Lone Ranger” you should. Ruth Wilson played Rebecca Reid in the now infamous box office flop. Fortunately, she redeems herself with “Saving Mr. Banks” where she plays Margaret Goff. Her performance is absolutely breathtaking and she is the reason I chose to keep watching. There's a scene she's in, I won't spoil this one, that completely changes the tone of the story, making it more interesting.


After seeing this movie, I looked up P.L. Travers and it turns out, she really was that horrible in real life. She was shrewd, uptight and generally unpleasant. She never married or had kids though she did unofficially adopt a child who ended up leaving her life. It makes me appreciate Walt Disney a little more, even if he was supposedly a very discriminating man. I'm not going into the rumors that he was sexist, racist and whatnot. I don't know if its even true but people believe what they want to believe.


It's a shame this one didn't get many Oscar nods because it genuinely is one of the best films out there right now. For the most part, it is family friendly, though younger kids might get bored because its not action packed. But the performances were spectacular, the movie itself was very well done and it encaptures the people it represents. Tom Hanks is up for nominations for his role in “Captain Philips” which is great and all but “Saving Mr. Banks” is just better. Emma Thompson definitely got snubbed this year. As far as I know, this film has one nomination and its one of the categories no one really cares about, Best Original Score.


This is really one of those few films that everyone can enjoy. While so many films are full of sex, violence and cursing, this is is light, clean fun. It has a word or two that might be too coarse for the little ones and you see Mr. Disney smoking once for maybe three seconds. Other than that, where else are you going to find a good movie for the family? There isn't anything! It disappoints me that so many of the top grossing films are about war or sex or corruption. A few years ago, there was something good for everyone coming out monthly but now...it's like the G rating doesn't exist anymore. Seriously, Disney and Pixar and even Dreamworks are moving into the PG territory.


I'm not a parent, but an aunt. I want to be able to take my nieces and nephews out to the movies and not have to worry about them seeing something that might frighten them or being too adult for them. We need more animated Disney films out there. “Saving Mr. Banks” shows that he was all for making movies for everyone, not just the grown up crowd. And if Mrs. Travers can accept how they adapted her book into celluloid, then surely we can find more movies for the children.


Seriously, she hated the movie at first. It took a long time to convince her to sign over the rights to her book. She was THAT difficult.


“Saving Mr. Banks” is a good movie for families, for a date night or if you want a movie that truly earns and deserves its happy ending. It starts off rocky but trust me, it just builds and gets better. Colin Farrell, who used to be Hollywood's resident bad boy, is wonderful as a family man. Granted he's also an alcoholic but he still shows complete devotion to his children. Paul Giamatti is also highly underrated. He's a real jerk in “12 Years a Slave” as a man holding the auction, but in this one, he's so sweet and endearing. As Ralph, he always makes sure to fix the tea in the proper way and he's one of the few people Travers opens up to. She even offers to sign a book for his disabled daughter, then gives him a list of people who overcame their disabilities to prove you can be anyone you want in life.


Do yourself a favor and see “Saving Mr. Banks”. You'll laugh, you might cry but you'll definitely walk away feeling warm and fuzzy.



I'm TheCinemaChick and I'm rather cold today.