Saving Mr. Banks (Film Review)

There’s a line in this movie that’s spoken by Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) himself, “Mary Poppins isn't trying to save the children. She’s trying to save Mr. Banks.”   I of course couldn't agree more.  The 1964 film Mary Poppins is not only one of my favorite childhood films but one of my all-time favorite films (if you look to the right you’ll notice it’s even represented on my great movies background).  To me, Mary Poppins has always centered on Mr. Banks, a stern yet otherwise good man whose head is just in the wrong place of thinking; as such it’s up to the help of an extraordinary nanny (and her faithful friend Bert) to set him right.  Yet Saving Mr. Banks isn't’t about helping the fore-mentioned character, but instead the man Mr. Banks is based on; a man who didn't get such a happy ending, and whose daughter has unintentionally suffered as a result. 

The plot is told from two points of time (the early 1900s and the early 1960s) that shift back and forth throughout the true story.  P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson), author of the beloved Mary Poppins book series, has run out of royalty money from her series and is reluctantly persuaded to fly over to California; where she’ll be negotiating with Walt Disney himself over creating a film version of her character.  Yet giving away your most beloved person is difficult, and Travers proves to be quite stubborn in letting anything but her own way happen (much to the dismay of the co-writer {Bradley Whitford}, Sherman Brothers (Jason Schwartzman & B.J. Novak}, and Disney himself).  While this is going on, we get to see flashbacks of Travers’ past (called Helen then) with her family in Australia.  This reveals how her present arrogant, supercilious self was a result of a very difficult, traumatic childhood caused by her alcoholic, yet loving father (Colin Farrell) for whom she has conflicted feelings for.

One of Saving Mr. Banks’ highlights is the performances, particularly from Thompson’s wonderful job portraying Travers.  Her bitter, jerk with a heart of gold attitude delivers just enough comedy and drama without crossing the line to annoyance or frustration for the audience (the movie characters on the other hand are not so lucky).  The comedy stems from her utter refusal to have the Mary Poppins’ film any other way but her own visualization.  This leads to some hilarious scenes where she nitpicks every little detail of the script, or requests something rather unreasonable in spite of practical explanations to why it can’t be done.  In one scene she insists on changing a character’s name despite its little relevance to the overall story; in another Travers gets up in arms when the Sherman Brothers make up a word simply to rhyme it with constable (“unmake up the word” she tells them as one brother quickly tries to hide the sheet music for supercalifragilisticexpialidocious).  There’s even a scene where Travers demands that there be no red in the film as it disinterests her, even after being told by Disney that it’s simply impossible to do so (she’s even wearing bright red lipstick during the scene).  This drives the crew to near insanity; even Disney himself looks exhausted from her constant complaints and rules.  Yet all of this is understandable for the viewing audience, thanks to the flashbacks of her childhood life; giving us a sympathetic understanding of why Travers acts this way.

I won’t lie however, while the flashbacks can be touching, sad (emphasis on that), and revealing as to how Travers got her inspirations; they can also be disruptive and boring at times.  While the present story line is bright and vibrant with colors and comedy, the flashbacks are dreary, dragging, and lacking in comic relief.  Understandable of course, considering what issues the flashbacks deal with (alcoholism, attempted suicide, death, etc…), but they might have been more effective if they weren't played directly after (or even during at times) comedic present scenes.  Sometimes the scenes can even get too dark for their own good, such as the above mentioned suicide attempt which was disturbing, scary, and felt completely out of place with the rest of the film.  Once again these scenes do help to explain Travers’ behavior and background, yet they still feel out of place when played with the other half of the film (which feels much more welcoming with its softer drama and funnier scenes).  The flashbacks still work, but I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed every time they switched over to one. 

I actually wish they gave more focus to Walt Disney himself, seeing as how fascinating a person he was (both the good, bad and everything in-between).  Tom Hanks does an impressively good job portraying the man in his first ever film appearance; having this almost larger than life feeling.  Saving Mr. Banks loves to toy with the audience, showing bits and pieces of Disney’s life and personality (notice how calmly observant he was to the first playing of Feed the Birds; Disney’s favorite musical number).  The film does end up giving a great scene where he tells Travers of his own past; which only seemed to increase my desire for more Disney scenes.  Yet the film’s focus is directed towards Travers and her life (which is understandable) and Disney can only be in so much; but for what we got, it’s a pretty good job.  I especially enjoyed the clever trick they pulled having Travers walk in on Disney smoking yet never showing him inhaling/exhaling (Disney never wanted children to see smoking involved with Disney; working as a way to fulfill his wish while also making an ingenious editing choice).

Saving Mr. Banks’ film poster shows Travers’ shadow as Mary Poppins, yet I actually found her to be a better parallel to Mr. Banks; a stern but otherwise good woman whose head is just in the wrong place of thinking.  This being said, Walt Disney seems to be a better parallel to Mary Poppins; he’s no saint, but he goes out of his way multiple times not only to obtain the film rights and keep a promise to his kids, but to help save Travers from the sufferings of her past.  Saving Mr. Banks is sometimes sweet, sometimes sentimental, and sometimes funny; three positive aspects that come together as a fine movie filled with nostalgia for the audience that grew up with Mary Poppins, and the actual characters in the film.