by Joseph Rossi
Saving Mr. Banks is like a spoonful of sugar. It tastes great but has no nutrition whatsoever. The film boasts great performances and has some wonderful moments. I just couldn’t get past how artificial the film felt.
A film about the “ true story “ of how famed author P.L. Travers gave up the rights to her Mary Poppins character to Walt Disney should feel like something Billy Wilder could’ve made. Darkly comic or truly dramatic. Or both. Instead we get sweet. Sweet? P.L. Travers loathed the idea that her stories would be Disneyfied and for years avoid Disney’s persistence. But knowing that this film was directed by the guy who made the Oscar winning (ugh) The Blind Side and produced by the mouse house itself, no way in heck would anyone allow the image of Walt Disney to be tarnished.
It’s a shame that they didn’t dig deeper into the man. Tom Hanks plays him wonderfully. No one else can I picture in the role but I would’ve liked a more darker edge to the man; he wasn’t all sunshine and mouse ears. Hanks plays him as an aw- shucks kinda guy but with a devilish side lurking underneath. Disney gets what he wants after all. But the story isn’t about him. It’s about Ms. Travers. She is played by Emma Thompson in a role that seems to be made for her. Stuck up, prickly, protective, the woman is a walking, depressing adjective.
Her best scenes are when she squares off with Disney and the Sherman Brothers (the duo who wrote many of the songs she hated with a passion). They provide good laughs and some insight on how Disney turned a novel with no mention of songs or animated critters into a smash box office hit that has been loved for 50 years. (Good timing on that Poppins anniversary release)
We travel back to Travers’ youth and discover the reasons behind her demeanor and well, we have seen this before in hundreds of other films. And done better. Her youth in Australia is the least interesting part of the film. It does provide a nice supporting turn for Colin Farrell. He pops up as Travers’ loving but alcoholic father. Cue strings and waterworks.
This film is a product more then anything. It sells the Disney name, Mary Poppins, and all sorts of merchandise that is tied to the movie. I’m pretty sure Ms. Travers is spinning right now. I’m sure Walt Disney is smiling knowing that.
