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: