Review of Saving Mr. Banks (2013) by Mrmoviebuff — 07 Jul 2015

A sweet, fluffy biopic about a firm woman who doesn't want to give up her creation to a money printing idol. That's what 'Saving Mr. Banks' is.

The film follows the story about an author named P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), who is best known for writing the widely acclaimed and beloved "Mary Poppins" that delighted many children and adults. She lives in London all by herself and her agent persuades her to give Walt Disney Studios the rights to adapting "Mary Poppins" into a feature-length film. For all the world to adore.

But Travers is dismayed at this decision as she is worried that the studio will transform her strict and firm character into a twinkling, fairy-like princess that churps musical numbers every now and then. She is also worried that they may make it into a silly cartoon, basically she is worried that it will become a typical Disney film.

She does decide to travel to L.A. as there is no other way to escape this. She meets Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and they agree that the film will be live-action, but she doesn't want it to be a musical, "Mary Poppins does NOT sing!" she states, but Walt has other ideas.

We get flashbacks of Travers' past that involve her loving father, Travers Goff (Colin Farrell) and their relationship of how he was all loving and caring despite his alcohol problems.

If you go into 'Saving Mr. Banks' looking for historical accuracy, then you will be mistaken, as it is a Disney film about the making of a Disney film and Disney is one of the main characters in the film.

Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks do a wonderful job at portraying P.L. Travers and Walt Disney respectively, and I was surprised at Colin Farrell and his role as Travers' father. This film is kind of like 'Finding Neverland' (2003) with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet's chemistry and the story of how a writer brought a famous fictional character to life.

I was surprised at how overly sentimental this film is, it may be a problem for some cynical audiences who expect historical accuracy. But I was taken away by the chemistry between the two leads and the sweet nature of this film. I found it to be one of the most wonderful films of 2013.