Review: Saving Mr. Banks

Review: Saving Mr. Banks
*Spoilers Alert
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Official 'Saving Mr. Banks' Poster.

      One of the fresh movies of this year’s award season movies, Disney proves its ability to provide a refreshing movie even if it is about it.

"Emma Thompson".

"Tom Hanks".

      'Saving Mr. Banks' chronicles the events that led to the making of the 1964 movie 'Mary Poppins' and a true life chronicle of the life of creator of the story "P.L. Travers" and her shaky relationship with filmmaker "Walt Disney". After years of fighting to keep the rights of her character out of Disney's hands, 'P.L. Travers'(Emma Thompson) decides to make a deal with Hollywood relentless mogul 'Walt Disney'(Tom Hanks) after being low on finances. However, this will be better said than done. 'Travers' will make sure that before signing the deal, that every detail being made will be to her specification, which reaches a huge hurdle once she realizes what 'Walt' has planned for the movie. But soon her acceptance and mind will open and grow once she starts to remember the memories of her childhood and the reason the book was written at the first place. Other real life characters portrayed include 'Pamela''s alcoholic yet loving father 'Travers Robert Goff'(Colin Firth), 'Pamela''s mother 'Margaret Goff'(Ruth Wilson), young 'Pamela'(Anni Rose Buckley), co-writer of the 1964 film 'Don DaGardi'(Bradley Whitford), co-composer and lyricist 'Richard M. Sherman'(Jason Schwartzman), composer and lyricist 'Robert B. Sherman'(B.J. Novak), 'Pamela''s chauffeur 'Ralph'(Paul Giamatti), 'Walt Disney''s executive secretary 'Tommie'(Kathy Baker), 'Walt Disney''s secretary 'Dolly'(Melanie Paxson) and 'Margaret''s sister 'Aunt Ellie'(Rachel Griffiths).

"Anni Rose Buckley", "Ruth
Wilson" and "Colin Farell",

""Jason Schwartzman", "B.J.
Novak", "Bradley Whitford"
and "Emma Thompson". 

      For years, scripts were made and developed on how the famous 1964 'Mary Poppins' movie has been made. And for decades Walt Disney Studio was trying to find a perfect way to do a movie about the makings of it. When finally a writer "Kelly Marcel" wrote a script which actually included "Walt Disney" in it, the movie’s idea began gaining momentum. From there on the movie moved up the ladder at the studio very quickly until it was announced that the production of the movie was going to begin. The decision to make a historical piece about the movie including the glorious culture of the studio and its founder was a very good entertainment as well as a marketing stunt by them. Overall, the movie does deliver in a very beautiful way thanks to the sort of straight to the point story that relies first and foremost on the exceptional cast led by two of the most iconic stars in Hollywood playing two iconic characters. 

"Paul Gitamatti".

"Rachel Griffiths".

      Director "John Lee Hancock", known for his exceptional work on 'The Blind Side', provided a very solid movie blending the images and the two parallel stories in a very clever way. The surreal feel to the scenes of the past of "Traverse" joined with what is actually happening, "Hancock" combines them with his fine directing style in a fashionable way. Writers "Sue Smith" and "Kelly Marcel"('50 Shades of Grey') provided a very solid and enjoyable script, where the dialogues and characters interactions shine the best. And the emotional linkage and the taking iconic elements of the movie 'Mary Poppins' is what makes the movie's narrative layers attractive. "Thomas Newman"('Skyfall' and 'The Help') successfully manages to provide an appropriate score merging 'Mary Poppins' song with new and modern scores to highlight the movie's narrative and emotional depth. 

"B.J. Novak" and "Tom Hanks".

"Anni Rose Buckley"
and "Colin Farell".

      The main problem that many encountered with the movie is the time frame. The movie can be long trying to include all details that may seem important at the beginning for the story to expand, but later on will be forgotten. The reimagining of famous scenes and moments from the 1964 movie was very amusing and will leave some a tear in your eyes, especially for the diehard fan of the iconic and classic Disney movie. What is really disappointing that the writers, producers and director didn’t capitalize on showing the back story of how the character 'Mary Poppins' came to exist and settled to showing her in the third half of the movie. My favorite movie scenes were the first time 'Traverse' enters the Disney studios to meet 'Walt Disney', 'Pamela' and 'Ralph' laying on the grass and having a conversation, and the final talk that allowed 'Walt' to convince 'Pamela' to sign the rights of the movie. The comedic moments and lines were very much funny and nice to watch and enjoy. The final scene where 'Pamela' was watching the movie was a very amusing and laughable moment.

"Emma Thompson"
and "Tom Hanks".

"Tom Hanks" and
"Emma Thompson".

      The main reason for the success of the movie was the leading stars. "Emma Thompson" provides a magnificent performance of this odd and caricatured character. Her ability to allow audience to like her and deconstruct then reconstruct the character just like the story intends the portrayal to just shows and solidifies her acting abilities. "Tom Hanks" provides another spectacular performance portraying one of the most if not the most beloved person, effectively showing what made him this person, as well as few signs of the other side of "Walt Disney". Together "Emma" and "Tom" provided one of the best on screen chemistry of the year and are able to support the movie. The supporting cast starting with trio "Bradley Whitford", "Jason Schwartzman", "B.J. Novak" gives out solid and light heart performances. As for "Paul Giamatti", he delivers as usual when needed. In the flashback scenes, "Colin Farrell" gives his best performances in years as the drunk yet loving father, "Anni Rose Buckley" and "Ruth Wilson" offer adequate and emotional performances, while "Rachel Griffiths"'s character the inspiration of 'Mary Poppins' character was underused. 

      'Saving Mr. Banks' will become a classic Walt Disney Studio movies, which both 'Mary Poppins' fans and movie lovers will eventually enjoy this magical ride.

'Saving Mr. Banks'.

-'Saving Mr. Banks' Info:

-Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Anni Rose Buckley, Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman, B.J. Novak, Paul Giamatti, Melanie Paxson, Kathy Baker and Rachel Griffiths.

-Studio(s): BBC Films, Essential Media and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

-Directed by: John Lee Hancock.

-Written by: Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith.

-Music by: Thomas Newman.

-Running Time: 125 minutes.

-Budget: $ 35,000,000.

-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 83,230,614.**

                   -Foreign: $ 29,243,000.**

-Ratings: -IMdb: 7.8/10.

               -Rotten Tomatoes: 80%.

               -Metacritic: 65%.

               -PERSONAL RATING: 8.3/10.

**Still Showing in Theaters Across The World.

-'Saving Mr. Banks' Trailer: