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You are here: Home / Disney Movies and TV / Saving Mr. Banks review

Saving Mr. Banks review

November 24, 2013 by Becky 10 Comments

saving mr. banks

When I went in to see Saving Mr. Banks at a pre-screening, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  I’d heard that it was a story between the woman who wrote Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers, and Walt Disney.  That it was the process of turning her book into a movie.  I thought there must be more to the plot than just that, because it didn’t sound super interesting.  But at the end of the day, that’s really what the story is – and it’s done absolutely brilliantly.  I was hooked the whole time, and found it to be really compelling and well told.

saving-mr-banks-colin-farrell

The movie basically weaves together the story of Mrs. Travers’ childhood growing up, and her two week stay in Los Angeles while consulting for the Mary Poppins movie.  The transitions between flashbacks and modern day are seamless, and work really well on a number of levels, including symbolically.  It was a fantastic way to tell the story.  There is some great imagery and metaphors used throughout, and I appreciated the literary elements they incorporated to really help tell the story.

What also helps the film is that there is great acting from everyone here, but Emma Thompson especially does an phenomenal job as Travers.  She’s funny, and does a great job of showing us Travers’ somewhat harsh, critical side – but she allows herself to also be vulnerable at times in a very moving way.  Tom Hanks does a great job as well, but this is really Thompson’s movie.  Walt is a secondary player in this plot, which is something I was actually grateful for once I saw the film.  Since it’s Disney they could have tried to make it more about Walt, but they didn’t.  They made it about P.L. Travers, and it worked that way.

Saving_Mr_banks

One of the things my husband asked me as we were watching was, “Who is supposed to be the protagonist here?”  And that’s one of the coolest things about the movie – there is no “good guy” or “bad guy.”  Travers comes off as stuck up and almost insufferable initially, but as the movie progresses you see more of her life and she becomes more sympathetic.  Walt Disney is pretty loveable throughout the film, but he does make some comments or decisions that are a bit harsh, though true to reality.  The characters in this movie, for the most part, are just very real people.

It also produced a range of emotions in me.  The whole movie was a heck of a lot funnier than I expected.  I found myself laughing a lot, and very legitimate laughs, not just a chuckle or two.  Travers was portrayed (and accurately, it seems) as very adamant against certain things, but she had a hilariously biting British wit in doing so.  But while it was funny, the movie was also able to move me to tears.  Anything that can make me both laugh and cry automatically gets big points from me.

saving-mr-banks-jason-schwartzman-bj-novak

I’m not going to post any spoilers, but one thing that is perhaps a bit of a disappointment, or at least worth mentioning, is that the ultimate conclusion of the film is, from my understanding, inaccurate.  Of course it’s typical of Disney to paint a happy ending, but it’s rather sad to know that the way they showed things wasn’t actually how it happened.  I’m not sure the movie would have felt right without the happy ending, so in some ways I’m glad they did it that way, but it’s still just a bit unfortunate.

Overall I can’t recommend this movie enough.  It’s something I think everyone should see (Disney fan or not – though at least make sure you’ve watched Mary Poppins if you’re going to see it!).  I also expect it to get some Oscar nods, most especially for Emma Thompson’s performance.  I found the film captivating, and I hope you do too.

Filed Under: Disney Movies and TV, Reviews Tagged With: Mary Poppins, Movie, P. L. Travers, Review, Saving Mr Banks, Tom Hanks

Comments

  1. The Animation Commendation says

    November 24, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    Wow, how’d you get to see a pre-screening of this? This is my #1 awaited film of the year!

    I’m not too fond of Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, so it’s good to hear that Walt is more of a secondary player in this film than the star character.

    How family-friendly is the movie, btw? I’m talking sex/nudity and language-wise?

    Reply
    • beckyginther says

      November 24, 2013 at 3:22 pm

      The library that I work at occasionally gets pre-screening tickets, so I lucked out with this one! In terms of family friendliness, it’s not too inappropriate. There were a number of kids in the audience that sounded like they enjoyed the film. No nudity and I don’t recall much language. The PG-13 rating is almost certainly due to – SPOILER ALERT – dealing with the issues of alcoholism and attempted suicide (though the suicide scene was not at all over the top and was rather subtle).

      Reply
  2. Cris of Kiss My Tulle says

    November 25, 2013 at 9:09 pm

    Excited to see this!

    Reply
    • beckyginther says

      November 25, 2013 at 9:19 pm

      I hope you come back and let me know what you think of it once you do see it!

      Reply
  3. Anita Boeira says

    November 25, 2013 at 10:56 pm

    I haven’t watched Mary Poppins in years! Not one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, so I never felt like re-watching. But I’ll add it to my Netflix Queue before heading out to see Saving Mr. Banks. I’m a big Walt Disney (the man) fan, so I’m excited to see it. It’s one of the few times when I actually agreed with the casting, lol. I hated Tom Hanks in Da Vinci’s Code. 🙂

    Reply
    • beckyginther says

      November 25, 2013 at 11:33 pm

      Mary Poppins isn’t one of my favorites either, but I feel like it makes Saving Mr. Banks much more meaningful and poignant to be familiar with the story. Plus, I think that it works the other way too – I want to go back and watch Mary Poppins again now, because I feel like Saving Mr. Banks will have given it more meaning for me.

      Reply
  4. feedmedearly says

    November 26, 2013 at 5:56 am

    Wow, can’t believe Mary Poppins wasn’t a favorite for everyone! I loved that movie growing up, so magical. This looks like a great pic, thanks for posting such a great review!

    Reply
    • beckyginther says

      November 27, 2013 at 9:21 pm

      You’re welcome! While it’s not a favorite, it’s definitely a classic and I now have an even better appreciation for it!

      Reply
  5. sue @ tea, love, and cookies says

    December 29, 2013 at 9:17 am

    ‘Mary Poppins’ isn’t a favorite of mine, either. But I’m really glad I rewatched it last week before seeing ‘Saving Mr Banks’. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt such pure joy watching a movie. I’ve been saying that if the movie is half as good as the movie POSTER (which I think is brilliant, although BJ Novak’s role was just as important as Jason’s!)), then we’re all in luck. I thought Colin Farrell was absolutely amazing. It’s been Emma we’ve all been hearing about, so Colin’s work was a great surprise.

    Reply
    • beckyginther says

      December 30, 2013 at 1:20 pm

      I completely agree. And you’re right, the post was so great! One of my favorite movie posters ever.

      Reply

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About Me

Hi, I'm Becky!

I'm a huge Disney fan in my early 30's and always trying to find a way to put a little bit of Disney into everyday life. I live in Pennsylvania but travel to the theme parks several times a year - I'm an annual passholder at Disney World! In addition to Disney I love traveling, running, and theater.

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