As Mary Poppins would say: "supercalafragalisticexpialidocious"

Rating: 10/10 (11 April 2014)

One of my personal favourite films of the year for sure. Whether it plays loose with the facts(at the end and with the portrayal of Walt Disney) makes little difference to me, regardless of any inaccuracy it is much more important whether the film in question is well-made, well-acted and has emotional and entertainment value. Saving Mr Banks has all of those. The film is beautifully photographed and the period detail is colourful and in the flashbacks evocative. The music is not inappropriate in style and fits with the tone of the script very well, also when you find yourself singing along to the songs included you know something's right. The story is incredibly engrossing, the cleverly interwoven flashbacks are incredibly poignant especially the latter ones, the backstage business with Travers' battles with the production crew and Walt Disney are informative and entertaining and all the references to Mary Poppins- in how the film was made and Travers' opinions on some aspects, in the songs and what the characters and their behaviour were inspired from(especially with Travers' father and Aunt Ellie)- are easy to spot and make you feel very nostalgic. John Lee Hancock's direction is spit spot, I never found myself bored for a second and the acting is great. Tom Hanks is a joy as Walt Disney and his chemistry with Emma Thompson is more than believable, especially in the scene in her house. Paul Giamatti is incredibly endearing as well, the standout of the supporting cast, though Colin Farrell and Annie Rose Buckley also give very good performances. The best assets of Saving Mr Banks are the script and especially Emma Thompson. The script is very witty comedically and is sharply observant, as well as the constant entertainment it also packs an emotional wallop especially towards the end. Mr Banks' redemption always resonated with me in Mary Poppins especially from an adult perspective, and the same happened in the ending scene(it also compelled me to watch Mary Poppins again, still is one of my favourite films regardless of what Travers thought of it). Thompson is outstanding, Travers is a more interesting character than Walt here but this is her film really so that wasn't an issue, she pitches Travers' stubbornness and cantankerous personality perfectly and there is a melancholic vulnerability in her performance too. Travers doesn't behave at all like a nice person here, but from the flashbacks you can really relate to her and understand why she's the way she is, which aside from context struck me as the reason for why they were included in the first place. Overall, a truly great film and one of the little gems of 2013. 10/10 Bethany Cox