Rated PG-13 for thematic reasons...
Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Annie Rose Buckley, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, B.J. Novak, Jason Schwartzman
Directed by John Lee Hancock
The Story:
Author P.L. Travers (Thompson) has fought off the advances of Walt Disney (Hanks) for over 20 years. He wants her book, Mary Poppins, to be brought to life onscreen to fulfill a promise to his daughters. Travers is not interested in seeing her very personal story brought to life in an animated movie, but agrees to meet with Disney to see what will happen. She is very insistent on everything, including recording her sessions with Disney's representatives Don DaGradi (Whitford) and the Sherman Brothers (Novak and Schwartzman). However, it is flashbacks to the story behind the Mary Poppins story that reveal why this tale is so important to Travers and why she is so insistent on not giving it to Disney.
We all know that she relents eventually, but the journey is one worth taking to see how she gets there.
I was expecting a good movie.
I don't know that I was expecting it to be *this* good though.
The story opens with flashbacks to Travers as a girl named Ginty (Buckley) who absolutely adores her father (Farrell). When they move to the end of the line in Australia to take on a new bank job, their mother (Wilson) is nearing the end of her rope. Mr. Goff is an alcoholic and this is the latest in a series of jobs that have taken a toll on the family.
Yet the father is so sweet, fun and loving, it's impossible not to feel why Ginty loves her dad.
The movie moves back and forth between flashbacks of life in Australia and Travers' meetings at the Disney studios.
While Hanks does an admirable job as Walt Disney, it should be noted that the majority of Travers meetings are with screenwriter DaGradi and Richard and Robert Sherman. In fact, Disney himself probably has the least amount of screen time in the whole movie of all of the characters.
And that's not a bad thing.
This is the heart and soul of most of the conflict within the movie, as everything they pitch to her, she rebuffs.
Robert Sherman is the first to openly even question "does it even matter?" to many of her objections, much to the horror of his partners.
Travers remains insistent that the film not be animated and not be a musical.
So you can tell, it's a long, uphill battle for Disney's team to win her over.
However, it's when they realize how personal the story is to Travers, and how they can remedy the tale by providing a happy ending to Mr. Banks that her father never had, that Travers finally relents.
Naturally, being based on a true story, much of the tale is open to interpretation and change.
That said, I like the way the movie played out, and have a better appreciation for Mary Poppins than I did previously.
Plus, this adds yet another layer of appreciation for what the Sherman Brothers brought to Disney studios. These two are geniuses that deserve much more notoriety and accolades than they have received. Their songs alone provide much of the heart of the films they provided songwriting duties for.
Including this one.
Well worth a viewing.
Final Grade: A-/B+ range
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'm sure I'm the only one in the house, but much like Mary Poppins, I liked it and wouldn't mind owning it and/or watching it again someday.
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