Saving Mr Banks
This is another film to see for two actors at the top of their game sparking off each other and creating something quite wonderful. You could argue with the veracity of the plot but the initial hostility that P L Travers, played by Emma Thompson, brings to her meeting with Walt Disney, played with avuncular charm by Tom Hanks, is certainly reflected in the recording of P L Travers’ voice, played at the end of the film. In the film, Walt Disney brings a healing warmth and insight into Travers’ back story, explaining the seeds of the story of Mary Poppins. As well as this, there is also the joy of watching her put down the brilliant Sherman brothers, who wrote the songs for the film. The main story is interspersed with flashbacks to Travers’ upbringing in Australia.
Emma Thompson was hotly tipped for an Oscar when the film was released but she was not even nominated. She was nominated for all sorts of other awards, including for a BAFTA, and she won Best Actress awards from the Las Vegas Film Critics and the USA National Review Board. Tom Hanks is probably playing too much to type to be recognised for this and he had Captain Phillips out at the same time, for which he did win lots of nominations.
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Saving Mr Banks
Year: 2013
Country: USA, UK, Australia
Cert: PG
Duration: 126 mins
Dir: John Lee Hancock
'a lovely, sentimental and quietly insightful account of the making of Mary Poppins'
Reviews
Susan Wioszczyna calls this 'an intoxicating kiddie cocktail for young-at-heart adults'
Brian Viner recommends the sparring between Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson
Venue: William Loveless Hall