Saving Mr. Banks - Review
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| The acting is great but the winner is Emma Thompson without doubt! |
Official Plot: 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. It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers.
This film is all about the past of P.L. Travers and the feelings for the story she wrote and its characters, inspired by her own life and family. Walt Disney wants to make Mary Poppins a movie whatever the cost and, while he finally gets what he wants, there are a few things the writer doesn't like. The reactions of the writer after knowing they are making it a musical, including cartoons and Dick Van Dyke are just the beginning of her hate towards the movie until she discovers what they want to do with Mr. Banks, the father of the children, inspired by her own father who loved above anything.
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| Tom Hanks does an excellent job as Walt Disney! |
During the film, we see the story of Travers when she was a little kid with her family and her relation with his father (ends very sadly) and discover her inspiration to the favourite nanny from everyone, Mary Poppins, based in her aunt who came all way to their home once she discovers her mother tried to kill herself after seeing Mr. Travers getting ill. There are strong feelings to her father and, while we don't see much about her sisters and mother (except the attempt of drowning), we do see the most important scenes about her past and understand the way she acts with people, distant, cold and rude. The scenes with Walt Disney are very fun as we see, for the first time ever, being portrayed by an actor. The making of the film at the rehearsal room are fun to see specially the way P.L. Travers hates every idea they have to the film until a song appears and she dances it with the director of the movie.
The film is based on the true story with its exceptions like Walt going all the way to London to convice her and the scene where we see her crying in the theatre while watching the ending of the movie (in real life, she cried about hating the entire movie instead of setting an ending to her story with her father).
The acting is very good in everyone, Tom Hanks does a very believable job as Disney and Colin Farrel surprises everyone acting as Mr. Travers but the one who shines in this film is Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers who connects with the character in everyway, you do believe her tears and laughs while watching her, she will make you angry and cry. She really deserved an Oscar for this amazing performance!
· What I liked was the acting, excellent, especially from the two main actors and the change to see how it was made and the differences between the book and the movie
· What I didn't like was the slow-paced movie, it takes too much time to explain two stories at the same time AND the fact the movie is not all true after what really happened. They shouldn't had to take out and change those few details about what was true.
8.0
"Very emotional ride with a great cast and great tributes to Walt Disney and P.L. Travers, you'll laugh, you'll cry and feel the same as the characters"
:: Top Movies 2014 ::
1. Saving Mr. Banks (8.0)
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| I was waiting for Tom Hanks to impress me but it has been Emma Thompson the real star here!! |