Simply A Beautiful Film

Rating: 9/10 (27 April 2014)

At times this film will overwhelm you with its simple power and leave you sobbing uncontrollably as you grieve for a lost childhood and magical memories of an early film viewing experience. This is cinema for the soul of our past and it touches us deeply with its truth. Hanks and Thompson are nothing less than superb in their respective roles and undeniably do some of their finest work in this film. In every scene they play together, we are reminded of just what great actors they truly are. As we watch them bring the profound depth of their characters to life, we experience a journey into the past and a hope filled time that promised such a beautiful future. Marry Poppins was imperfect masterpiece and this film is as well. But the way both films touch our souls and as adults rekindle that faint glow of hope, well, it is quite sublime indeed. The question is asked somewhere on the IMDb, "Is it necessary to view Marry Poppins prior to seeing this film?" The answer is that no life is complete if the magic of Marry Poppins hasn't been part of it. If one's heart is touched by that film, then Saving Mr. Banks is a lovely treasure. If Marry Poppins is nothing more than a cinematic requirement that offers little more than catchy tunes, then simply don't bother. Unless you can open your heart and break through the calcified cynicism that prevents you from seeing the profound beauty in these two films, both can be easily dismissed as sentimental fluff. I feel blessed to have seen Mary Poppins as a young lad and realized what a gift it was at the time and what a golden memory it would be for the rest of my life.