With a spoon full of hog snot

Rating: 4/10 (6 January 2014)

Four stars because Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson could actually break through the sugar coating encasing this movie. Both characters were played perfectly (and I'm not concerned with historical accuracy) P.L. Travers is charmingly petulant and Disney is just effusive enough to be believed.
But the rest of the movie suffers a lacking of intensity and substance. It is just way too sweet to be entertaining. I honestly believe the director wanted to create a look and feel of a 'family' movie that would have been real box office in 1961!
And poor Colin Farrell - stuck in those hopelessly melodramatic and clownish flash backs that do nothing but pollute the story. They are totally unnecessary to the plot. The movie would have been far more tolerable and make just as much sense without them.
And one more thing - whats with all those big eyebrows??? Did you notice?