/Saving Mr. Banks (2013).jpg)
/Saving Mr. Banks (2013)2.jpg)
Saving Mr. Banks
- Director: John Lee Hancock
- Writer: Kelly Marcel; Sue Smith
- Producer: Ian Collie; Christine Langan
CGiii Comment
This is a very kind portrayal of P. L. Travers...there's not a hint of her sexual ambiguity nor her concrete belief in astrology nor the fact that she [cruelly] split up twins in order to adopt only one - because, it was written in the stars.
Emma Thompson gives a thoroughly credible performance as this harridan with a deeply buried heart - even, at times, expertly exposing her vulnerabilities.
Unexpectedly, emotions run high throughout - especially when the origins of her characters are revealed through the numerous flashbacks - surprisingly, Colin Farrell manages to keep his eyebrows under control (for most of his screen time).
How much of it is true...is a matter for those that are that interested. Otherwise, it's a damn fine film that should have you sobbing your eyes out.
The highlight: Let's Go [and] Fly a Kite...simply, wonderful.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
When Walt Disney's daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins (1964), he made them a promise - one that he didn't realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney's plans for the adaptation. For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn't budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp.
Cast & Characters
Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers;
Tom Hanks as Walt Disney;
Annie Rose Buckley as Ginty;
Colin Farrell as Travers Goff;
Ruth Wilson as Margaret Goff;
Paul Giamatti as Ralph;
Bradley Whitford as Don DaGradi;
B.J. Novak as Robert Sherman;
Jason Schwartzman as Richard Sherman;
Lily Bigham as Biddy