'Saving Mr. Banks' garners mainly positive reviews
鈥淪aving Mr. Banks,鈥� the film based on the life of 鈥淢ary Poppins鈥� author P.L. Travers and the making of the 鈥淢ary Poppins鈥� movie, hits theaters on Dec. 13 and is already earning mainly positive reviews.
鈥淪aving Mr. Banks鈥� stars 鈥淏rave鈥� actress Emma Thompson as Travers, while 鈥淐aptain Phillips鈥� actor Tom Hanks portrays Walt Disney, Colin Farrell of 鈥淭otal Recall鈥� plays Travers鈥� father, and actors B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman play the Sherman Brothers, who were behind the score of 鈥淢ary Poppins.鈥� It will be released in limited locations on Dec. 13 and enter wide release on Dec. 20. (Check back for our own review on Friday.) Oscar pundits have been pointing to the film as a possible contender for major awards like Best Picture, Best Actress (Thompson), and Best Actor (Hanks).
writer Scott Foundas called the movie 鈥渁 bit square, never particularly surprising, yet very rich in its sense of creative people and their spirit of self-reinvention鈥� and found Thompson 鈥渟uperb鈥� and Farrell 鈥渆xcellent.鈥�
鈥淸John Lee] Hancock, who cut his own directorial teeth at the studio (on the inspirational baseball drama 鈥淭he Rookie鈥� and the underrated 鈥淭he Alamo鈥�) is sometimes a bit too on-the-nose with his parallel storytelling, too heavy with Thomas Newman鈥檚 bouncy score, and too eager to pluck at our heartstrings (at which he nevertheless succeeds),鈥� he wrote. 鈥淎nd if someone had to play Disney in a movie, a better candidate than Hanks, himself a gleaming icon of wholesome American entertainment, is hard to imagine.鈥�
writer Scott Mendelson found the movie production scenes 鈥渟omewhat repetitive鈥� but wrote that Thompson鈥檚 scenes with actor Paul Giamatti as a limo driver were 鈥渁mong the best in the picture鈥� and that the flashbacks to Travers鈥� youth with her father were 鈥渕ost engaging,鈥� with Farrell 鈥渢errific鈥� in the movie.
Leslie Felperin of the said the script is 鈥渋ngenious.鈥�
鈥淓mma Thompson takes charge of the central role of the waspish P.L. Travers with an authority that makes you wonder how anybody else could ever have been considered,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淐olin Farrell [is] doing his best work for some time鈥�. [there are] outstanding performances by the leads and supporting cast.鈥�
Meanwhile, critic Peter Bradshaw says the roles of Travers and Disney are 鈥渆njoyably played鈥� by Thompson and Hanks but that the scenes of Travers鈥� childhood are 鈥渓aborious鈥� and Farrell is 鈥渂elow-par.鈥� He found the movie 鈥渁 watchable film, with a giant-sized spoonful of sugar鈥�. It's a shame we couldn't get more fireworks from the incomparable Hanks and Thompson.鈥�
