As promised, Saving Mr Banks delivers a shiny and glossed Disney version of how author P.L. Travers fought against the making of a shiny and glossed Disney version of her beloved children’s novel Mary Poppins. It’s a fascinating story told in a meticulously constructed world that transports us to Walt Disney Studios in 1961 as the battle of egos raged between Travers and Mr. Disney himself.
This is the good stuff as there is a joy in sitting in the room with the Sherman brothers as they come up with the words and tune for Let’s go Fly a Kite. It is this nostalgia, mixed with some very strong performances that gives Mr. Banks its life.
But there is another element to the story that complicates things. Besides the straight “making of” aspect of the film, there is another plotline told in tandem that proves to be the “making of” Miss Travers herself. This portion of the film is told in flashback and takes us back to the early 1900s Australia where Travers spent her childhood. Her father was a troubled man with an inkling to drink rotgut and act like an moron. He was a banker (see the connection?) that failed his family and left Miss Travers a wounded soul who worked through her bad childhood by retelling it in a fantastical tale where a magic nanny descends from the clouds and makes everything better and bright. Mary Poppins was a deeply personal story for her and the last thing she wanted was for it to turn into a Disney Cartoon with song and dance numbers. Then she ran out of money and Mr. Disney’s offer seemed much more enticing.
While the source material is solid, the execution is flawed as the two stories feel like two separate films. The 1961 stuff is very solid. Thompson’s stiff portrayal of Travers is brilliant and Tom Hanks- although he never really transforms into Walt and plays it more as Tom Hanks with Walt’s mustache- is a superstar that brings the needed warmth and ego to the character.
But the material covering Travers childhood is thin and stretched. Both stories get nearly equal screen time and there is not enough here to warrant it. Every time they flashed back, I’d wish they’d just get back to the good stuff, back to creation of Spoonful of Sugar.
And there is Colin Farrell who plays the ill-fated father of Travers. The man overacts and twitches his way through the performance to a degree that is almost embarrassing.
Now there is an interesting story here and had the flashbacks been minimized and focused better, the film would have benefited. Fans of Mary Poppins – and who doesn’t love that movie- will have plenty of reason to see this movie. I just wish they had limited Farrell’s screen time to near none.