Bring tissues because Emma Thompson & Tom Hanks are just too good

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2013)

Tom Hanks is Walt Disney and Emma Thompson is P.L. Travers, the author of the "Mary Poppins" series in "Saving Mr. Banks," a 2013 release.
For twenty years, P.L. Travers has refused to sell the rights to her book Mary Poppins to Walt Disney. Finally, her agent tells her that she doesn't have any new sales or residuals coming in and she really ought to take Walt up on his offer. He has promised her final say on the film.
Reluctantly, the uptight, very proper P.L. Travers goes to Hollywood and proceeds to make Walt Disney, composers Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak (Richard and Robert Sherman) and everyone else insane with her demands and criticisms. Despite his best efforts, Disney cannot get her to warm up to him, and after a period of time, she still hasn't signed over the rights.
In a way, Disney understands because "the mouse" (that would be Mickey) is very personal for him, and when he had the chance, he wouldn't sell the character. But in another way, he is mystified. Travers herself doesn't understand what drives her stubbornness, yet she keeps having flashbacks to her own childhood in Australia with her sweet albeit drunken father (Colin Farrell), her unhappy mother (Ruth Wilson), and the woman who came to make everything all right (Rachel Griffiths).
The film should really be called "Solving P.L. Travers" because it's the story of a woman coming to terms with her life and being able to let go of the past. Emma Thompson is absolutely wonderful as an unlikeable woman who becomes more likable as we gradually understand her, and Hanks is fantastic as Disney, a remarkable man with great vision, and also one who is used to winning people over...at the moment, his charm and forceful personality aren't working.
Paul Giametti makes the most out of his role as chauffeur to Travers; Kathy Baker, an excellent actress, is delightful as Walt's secretary; and Rachel Griffiths, as a Mary Poppins prototype, has a tiny part. Melanie Paxson is delightful as another Disney employee, as is Bradley Whitford.
A very moving film, with plenty going on underneath the light story of making Mary Poppins. Watch it until the final credits are finished - you won't be sorry.