Friday, January 3, 2014

Movie Review: Saving Mr. Banks

Movie: Saving Mr. Banks
Genre: Drama
Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell
Rating: PG 13
My Rating: Two thumbs up

What a wonderful, feel good movie! We need more movies like this! I loved it!

This is the true life story of how Walt Disney made the movie Mary Poppins. And how he begged the author, P.L. Travers, for 20 years to consider it before she would finally even talk to him. And then she had all sorts of demands and was extremely difficult to work with. And that was BEFORE she actually signed the rites over to him. It's amazing this movie (Mary Poppins) was ever even was made.

The heart wrenching part of this movie (not the Mary Poppins one) were the flashbacks to the life of P.L. Travers, whose real name is Helen Goff, when she was young and dealing with a dad who was a fun loving and imaginative father...and an alcoholic.

Eventually, we begin to understand the connection she has with her own life and the life she created with the Mary Poppins characters. And we see Walt Disney also open up and reveal himself and his past and we see him make the connection. And we see how they decided to make a different ending for Mary Poppins, an ending that was much more fitting and one that made all the difference.

If you love the book and the movie Mary Poppins, you really need, like NEED, to see this movie. It's so fun to get a little glimpse into the behind the scenes. As a bookish person, it's also fascinating to see the pain an author might have in giving up his or her story to be made into a movie.

Oh, and of course the acting was amazing. Emma Thompson? I have no words. She is incredible.

Bottom line: It was wonderful. Go see it. You'll thank me for it. And when you do, be sure to stick around for the credits for real life pictures and audio from the tape recordings. Awesome stuff.

The trailer:


15 comments:

  1. I am definitely wanting to see this one! I have to wait for it to come out on DVD though.

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    1. Tif: Hopefully you won't have to wait long.

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  2. It is wonderful, isn't it? We saw it a couple of days ago. I'm firmly convinced that in addition to Hanks and Thompson's Oscar nods, Paul Giamatti and Colin Farrel deserve Best Supporting Actor nominations. They were so great in this.

    My friend James did the most wonderful post about this movie. Not a review but the impact it had on him.

    http://www.raisingwomen.com/movie-response-saving-mr-banks/

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    1. Carl: I agree about Colin Farrell. He too was awesome. I didn't know who Paul was, but I had a good guess so I looked him up and was right! Yep! He too was awesome! :) I will check out that link you've attached.

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  3. I love the Mary Poppins movie and have been wanting to go see Saving Mr. Banks, so thank you for the great review! Love behind the scenes glimpses too. Can't wait!

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    1. Alexia: I do hope you'll get a chance to go soon. :)

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  4. I am so glad you liked this because I really want to see it! I wish we got a chance to go to the movies more often. We always plan to and then it never seems to happen.

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    1. Kelly: Sometimes I'm amazed at how often we do get out, it always seems to be a big production. This event was a mom/sisters night out, so it was especially fun.

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  5. Oh, I haven't heard of this movie before, but it sounds so 'Me', I'll definitely be watching it!

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  6. Yay, I'm glad it's as good as it looks! I really want to go see this one.

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  7. I love Emma Thompson and I was hoping this turned out to be a good film! thanks for the encouragement to go on and see it.

    ~L (omphaloskepsis)

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  8. I saw this the weekend before Christmas, and I really liked it! I laughed, I cried, and it was just fun.

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  9. Everyone I know who has seen this liked it. Even though I think it's one that doesn't require the theater to enjoy, I'm not sure I can wait for it to come out on DVD.

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  10. Though about one of the most undeniably commercial movie companies in history, there's something enjoyably strange about Saving Mr. Banks, and its gallery of unusual characters.
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