Another behind the scenes look at the making a classic movie, Saving Mr.Banks could have been a pure Oscar bait movie. It would have been easy for that to happen and be overloaded with sap and melodrama. Luckily it doesn’t, as Saving Mr. Banks was great. It’s a lot of fun and has really strong emotional elements. It is also well scored and has some of the best performances of the year.
Saving Mr. Banks is the story of the making of Mary Poppins and the fight between P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) and Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and her travel to LA to work on the movie script. When arriving at the airport, she is picked up by her driver Ralph (Paul Giamatti) and when arriving at her hotel, is outraged by all of the gifts Disney has left for her. The next day, she is driven to Disneyland and meets Richard Sherman (Jason Schwartzman) and Robert Sherman(B.J. Novak) who are the songwriters along with Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) the screenwriter. She is introduced to Walt Disney and the process of making the movie begins. Intercut in are flashbacks to P.L. Travers’s rough childhood with her mother Margaret (Ruth Wilson) and her alcholic but good meaning dad Travers Robert (Colin Farrell).
Saving Mr. Banks is a lot of fun. There is well placed humor throughout with some very fun moments and then there is the also strong emotional side without getting too sappy. The emotional elements are helped by the score and excellent performances that are some of the year’s best.
A lot of the fun comes from the scenes in the rehearsal room. There is a lot of conflict with Travers not wanting to be there or have the movie made and the creative team who are working their hardest to make it happen. A lot of humor comes from the large differences and fighting. These scenes are also when the songs are played in context to what is happening in the creative process. This culminates in one of the best scenes of the whole movie.
The emotional side is also strong. It is not forced emotion that is all of a sudden happening. Instead, it is built up throughout the movie with flashbacks to her childhood. These flashbacks happen at moments during the writing of the script that causes her to remember events from her childhood. These build up moments work and when it culminates, it hits.
The emotional side is partially also strong because of the strong acting. Thompson is excellent as Travers. During the credits, an audio recording is played from the real meetings. It is so close just showing how great she is. Hanks is also great as Disney and really nails it in the beginning of the 3rd act. The creative team is great as well providing the fun moments. Overall, Saving Mr.Banks is a great fun, emotional, well acted behind the secnes look at the making of Mary Poppins.
Saving Mr.Banks is rated PG-13 for thematic elements including some unsettling images. I give Saving Mr.Banks a saving A-.
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