Film Review: “Saving Mr. Banks”

It is often said
that history is written by the victors, and that viewpoint goes a long way in
explaining the slightly bitter taste left in my mouth by “Saving Mr. Banks,”
John Lee Hancock’s (“The Blind Side”) otherwise charming retelling of the
behind-the-scenes battle to make Disney’s “Mary Poppins.” It’s expected that
liberties will be taken with the facts in any film that claims to be “based on
a true story,” but there’s something vaguely distasteful about Disney setting
out to tell its own triumphant story of gaining the rights to “Poppins” from
its reluctant author.

The film begins just
after P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) has finally agreed to fly from Britain to
Los Angeles in order meet with Walt Disney (Tom Hanks). Their meeting is the
culmination of Disney’s 20-year pursuit of the rights to “Mary Poppins,” and
the author has finally relented because, frankly, she needs the money. She is
invited to act as consultant on the film, meeting with screenwriter Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) and songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman (Jason
Schwartzman and B.J. Novak) as they negotiate with her exactly what changes
they’ll be allowed to make to her story. She’s adamant that Mary Poppins not be
turned into one of Disney’s “silly cartoons.”

Scenes of their
planning sessions, in which Travers refuses to budge, making occasionally
ridiculous demands (at one point insisting that the color red be removed from
the movie completely), alternate with flashbacks to the author’s childhood in
Australia growing up with a doting, but deeply depressed, father (played with charm
by Colin Farrell). Writers Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith offer up the explanation
(based on one hypothesis put forth in Valerie Lawson’s biography of Travers,
“Mary Poppins, She Wrote”) that the author’s
reluctance to part with her creation was the result of a lack of closure in her
relationship with her father, who was so inspirational to her writing. This
clear-cut interpretation is symptomatic of the film’s need to iron out the
nuances of the story it sets out to tell. Though we know how things must inevitably
turn out, giving up creative control of her work being a therapeutic process
for Travers seems far too tidy. As is the way the film makes sure to end with
the film’s premiere, conveniently avoiding the fact that Travers was vocal in
her displeasure with the finished product.

So many things about
“Saving Mr. Banks” feel calculated, from cringe-inducing moments like Mickey
Mouse himself taking Travers’ hand to escort her into the premiere, right on
down to the fact that the film’s opening has been timed to coincide with the
50th anniversary Blu-ray release of “Mary Poppins.”

This all sounds like
I’m being overly hard on the film, which admittedly gets a lot of things right,
namely Emma Thompson’s wonderful performance as P.L. Travers. In her hands, the
author is prickly, with a sharp tongue, but a sadness
behind her eyes hints at a life that has known more than its share of
disappointments. She captures the heartbreak and doubt that comes with giving
up control of a work that’s deeply personal. Hanks does
a fine job as Walt Disney, alternately warm and exasperated. But while the
script allows him moments that show Disney was first and foremost a
businessman, like almost everything in the film, it doesn’t probe any deeper.

This article appears in Dec 25-31, 2013.