Dear “Write” Readers,
It’s that time again. A whole year has gone by, and the Academy Awards are upon us once more. As you might recall, last year I wrote an entire series on all of the 2013 nominees for Best Picture. Well here I am to do it all over again. What’s that, you say? You’re reminding me that the official nominations aren’t out yet?
You’re so right.
The official nominations aren’t out until January 16th, we have to wait two whole weeks! However, this year there are so many contenders that I thought I’d start early. December was a good month for film, and there are at least eight fantastic films out that are calling for my opinions to be put to paper. And thus we begin, with the IMDB guesses as to which films are likely to be nominated for Best Picture…which explains this review.
Speaking of which. Do you remember this film…it came out in 2004, and it starred Johnny Depp? It was about this famous author, J. M. Barrie, who befriends a family and is inspired to write the books Peter Pan? So, Saving Mr. Banks is identical to the movie Finding Neverland, except gussied up with a new outfit. There’s that same nostalgia for Disney movies, that same “I’m sure something tragic is going to happen” feeling towards the middle, that same sad moment close to the end, and that same happy feeling you get when the credits roll, and you surreptitiously wipe your cheeks off before the lights come up and your neighbors notice what a pansy you are. (What? That’s just me?) Let’s just say if you enjoyed Finding Neverland, you’ll probably also enjoy Saving Mr. Banks. No judgments, friends! Finding Neverland was a good film!
If you haven’t seen the trailer and don’t remember Finding Neverland, SavingMr. Banks is about author Pamela Travers (played by Emma Thompson), and her internal struggles about surrendering the rights to her books to Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) who desires to bring the books alive on the big screen. Travers, in conflict, sets sail across the Atlantic (on a state of the art, 1961 plane of some kind) to frustrate and argue with the Disney team about how the films will be made. We are all in suspense (although we aren’t really, which is the joy of prequels) about whether or not Mrs. Travers will relinquish the rights in the end, or if she’ll jaunt back to England and leave Julie Andrews to make The Sound of Music instead.
Clearly, (although I spent the whole 125 minutes mistaking Colin Firth for Johnny Depp), I loved the film. But, it has been very firmly established that as The Write Teacher(s)’ film critic, I love basically all movies. You really can’t go see a film on my word alone. So who else, aside from me, might enjoy Saving Mr. Banks? Anyone who has ever seen and loved the movie Mary Poppins. In my humble opinion, one of the best parts of Saving Mr. Banks is attempting to correctly identify each and every time Mrs. Travers says something that Julie Andrews said as Mary Poppins. Now that I think about it, it would make an incredibly fun yet nostalgic game involving college theatre students and libations in red solo cups. All musical theatre nerds aside, the movie is really good family fun, (despite the PG-13 rating.) This movie is appropriate for the young and the young at heart. Watching Emma Thompson be no-nonsense and perfectly English is delightful. For heaven’s sake, the woman thinks LA smells like chlorine and sweat. Try saying that with an accent without grinning. It’s impossible. Tom Hanks makes a very jolly Walt Disney. He’s less red and more stubborn than Santa Claus, but the resemblance is strong. Colin Firth is also in this movie, playing the cheery, and sick father to a young P. L. Travers. His drinking problem is sad to watch (there’s that PG-13 rating), but he’s not the kind of father you are assuming he is. He’s wonderful with his children and his wife, delightfully silly, and constantly encouraging his daughters to be and do what they please, in between his whole dying-of-consumption thing.
My only complaint (aside from it being a remake of another film) is that P. L. Travers is portrayed pretty negatively throughout the first half of the film, which could cast female writers in a negative light. However, on the flip side, I think director John Lee Hancock (Snow White and the Huntsman and countless others) does a great job of illustrating exactly why the Banks family is so important to Travers, which gives a big and full heart to a very shrewish-seeming woman. And while there was never a moment during which I didn’t simultaneously adore and loathe Mrs. Travers for being so difficult, I never once lost sight of who she was deep down. Thompson’s full and rich portrayal keeps Travers from being the biggest pain in the ass there ever was, and instead creates a wounded and strong woman, holding on to the only family (albeit fictional) she has left.
All in all, this is a great film to go see with your whole family. I’m not sure that it will be taking home Best Picture this year, or even be nominated; there seem to be so many well made films that push the envelope a bit more than this one. But it deserves to be seen, and to be seen by many. Just promise me that right after you see it, you’ll break out your old VHS copy of Mary Poppins and enjoy watching Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke (chimney) sweep you off your feet like they did twenty years ago. (Or forty. Or last weekend.) Alternately, you could watch this YouTube trailer of Scary Mary, and never look at Mary Poppins the same way again. Your call, internet.
Live, Love, Learn,
Rebecca & The Write Teacher(s)