Disappointing flashbacks, a mildewy Hanks performance, yet Thompson is practically perfect...

Rating: 5/10 (6 September 2014)

Middle-aged Brit and "Mary Poppins" author P.L. Travers, a frustrated, frustrating female conundrum of likes and dislikes (and with both surname and ancestry highly suspect) is being persuaded to sign over the creative rights to her book to Walt Disney in the early 1960s; she wants no cartoons or songs in the film, nor is the color red to be present, which leads to an ulcer-making relationship between she and the powers-that-be at Disney Studios. Historians are likely to pick this movie apart--from factual content to the Hollywood milieu to Tom Hanks' performance as Walt Disney--which, if the inaccuracies exist, is warranted...but how is the film as an entertainment? It is richly produced, directed (at moments) with a modicum of flair by John Lee Hancock and cast with extremely talented actors--and yet, it rarely lifts off. The flashbacks to Travers' emotionally-upsetting childhood in Australia (with Colin Farrell overacting as her alcoholic father) keep butting into the framework, although this doesn't deter Emma Thompson from giving a smashing performance as Travers. Stubborn, exasperating, tight with her principles, Thompson alone is nearly everything this picture needs to succeed. Unfortunately, her scenes with Paul Giamatti as an excruciatingly sympathetic driver are pure hokum, and her moments with Hanks are leaden. Hanks, who undoubtedly put some thought into his Disney impersonation, is all wrong for the role; what with bad hair and make-up, boxy suits and a continuous look of consternation on his face, this Walt Disney seems more like a dismayed studio lackey. There's some heart in the proceedings, but not enough: when Travers finally gets into the movie music--the song "Let's Go Fly a Kite" by the Sherman brothers--and begins to merrily dance, we barely get a glimpse of this happy moment before Hancock cuts away to the assistant running down the hallway trying to find Mr. Disney; when Disney first hears "Feed the Birds" being worked out on the piano, he appears to be wandering the studio grounds in the middle of the night. "Mr. Banks" isn't a shambles, but the self-congratulatory air and heavy-handed sentiment and pathos mark the film as a disappointment. ** from ****