Saving Mr. Banks

Director: John Lee Hancock
Genre: Historical comedy-drama/Family
Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti, Colin Farrell, Jason Schwartzman, B.J. Novak
Distributed by: Walt Disney Studios
Release Date: December 13, 2013
My Rating: 9/10


This film definitely snags a spot on my top favorite list of films of this past year. This is the story of P.L. Travers, the legendary author who created the character of Mary Poppins. The tale begins in 1906 in Maryborough, Australia, where a young girl named Helen Goff (Travers' birth name) is playing with her father Travers Goff (Farrell), a local bank manager whose battle with alcoholism is putting his profession at risk. The film then fast-forwards to the year 1961 in London, where Mrs. Travers (Thompson) is persuaded by her agent to travel to Los Angeles in order to grant Walt Disney (Hanks) the rights to turn her novel into a movie. Disney had been attempting to convince her to do this for 20 years-after a promise he made to his daughters when they told him that Mary Poppins was their favorite book-but the novelist had resisted the opportunity to collaborate. Travers finally and reluctantly agrees and flies to L.A, where she immediately becomes exasperated by the overly jovial and casual behavior of the residents of the city of angels: a culture shock of sorts to say the very least. After settling into her hotel, Travers is introduced to Walt Disney himself, along with the team with whom she will collaborate in the making of the film: screenwriter Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) and music composers Robert (Novak) and Richard Sherman (Schwartzman). The film goes on to demonstrate the process that took place to create the film, specifically the musical process, and what a cold and difficult person Mrs. Travers was to work with. She believes that none of these people understand the true nature and message behind her beloved story, and think that it is merely a fantastical and whimsical tale. The recurring flashbacks of Travers' harsh upbringing provide a backdrop for her current personality.

This is a very heartwarming film that audiences of all ages can enjoy from beginning to end. The switches back and forth between time periods appear rather frequent at first, but gradually become much more crucial in explaining the character of Helen Goff/PL Travers. Emma Thompson delivers a stunning performance as an uptight, patronizing woman with an overly pessimistic life view who is bound to quickly frustrate the viewer nearly as much as the other characters. The soundtrack, which includes the classic songs "Spoonful of Sugar" and "Let's go fly a kite" is also beautiful, reminding us how classic Disney films bring out the inner child in all of us by filling our souls with blissful joy. Unlike many traditional Disney movies, however, there is a rather dark and human backstory that is in stark contrast with the jovial musical numbers. Another noteworthy performance is that of Colin Farrell, who portrays the irresponsible but well-meaning father figure who much like Peter Pan, refuses to grow up. Finally, the film contains a pleasant surprise with regards to the identity and role of the nanny Travers met as a little girl who inspired the character of Mary Poppins.

One thing remains absolutely clear about films like this one: they serve to demonstrate that fairy tales and music can be a marvelous way of helping us to forget life's harsh miseries, even if their relief is merely transient. This film helps prove that we can all bring out the best in even the most placid and stolid people by doing something as simple as creating a beautiful melody and coupling it with a few magic words.