Best story of the year?

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2014)

I thought 2013 had an unusually high number of well-done movies and great stories. This is one of them, and my favorite. The plot of the movie skips between the upbringing of a girl in early 20th Century Australia, and Disney Studios pursuit of the movie rights to Mary Poppins. You eventually realize the girl is the author, P. L. Travers. Her parents are co-dependent, and the father is an alcoholic, bouncing from 1 job to another. He fills his daughter with dreams instead of a sense of responsibility. When Walt Disney enters the story we find he's been pursuing the movie rights for 20 years. Ms. Travers fears the trivialization of her characters and has refused him at every turn. The real story is why and the movie unravels this mystery in a great fashion. This are fine and perhaps Oscar-winning performances by Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks. You'll appreciate the story better if you've seen Mary Poppins, but don't avoid this if you haven't - they'll explain enough so you'll get it.