Saving Mr. Banks

Saving Mr. Banks tells the backstory of Walt Disney's 20-year struggle to convince prim ‘n' proper novelist P.L. Travers to let him make Mary Poppins. No fan of films—particularly Disney cartoons—prickly Mrs. Travers (Emma Thompson) has adamantly refused even to consider a screen adaptation of her beloved novel about a magical nanny. But in 1961, finances are running short, so she reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles for two weeks of meetings. A culture clash commences as soon as the solicitous studio chauffeur (Paul Giamatti) meets her at the airport and delivers her to the posh Beverly Hills Hotel, where she's appalled to discover a Disney toy menagerie in her suite. Things go from bad to worse during spoonful-of-sugar script conferences with Walt (Tom Hanks), screenwriter Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) and the songwriting Sherman brothers (Jason Schwartzman, B.J. Novak). Brusque, irritable Travers grows even more defiantly stubborn until, eventually, persuasive Walt figures out what the real issues are behind her stonewalling. Along the way, director John Lee Hancock intercuts revelatory scenes from Travers' formative childhood in rural Australia, revealing her poignant devotion to her charismatic, wildly imaginative, alcoholic father (Colin Farrell), an erstwhile banker who doted on her and her sisters. Exuding charm, Hanks nicely captures folksy Walt's shrewd devotion to syrupy storytelling, while Thompson does a flat-out fabulous job, tossing off wry zingers like Bette Davis. An irresistibly enchanting and high-spirited film that deftly mixes comedy and drama, this is highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include the deleted scene “Nanny Song” (3 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is “The Walt Disney Studios: From Poppins to the Present” with director John Lee Hancock on the Disney Studios lot (15 min.), additional deleted scenes (5 min.), a “Let's Go Fly a Kite” cast and crew tribute to composer Richard Sherman (2 min.), and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning film.] (S. Granger)