Practically Imperfect In Every Way (And There's Nothing Wrong With That)

Rating: 8/10 (29 March 2014)

SAVING MR. BANKS, a film directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, is a fantastic film.
Growing up, I was always fascinated by Mary Poppins. From childhood, when I watched the musical classic, to later childhood, when I discovered the books I still hold dear.
In high school, I became very interested with this mysterious write, PL Travers (I didn't even know if she was a woman or a man!). So, I did some research on her and her background. Needless to say, I was shocked - she came from a poor family with an alcoholic father and a suicidal mother and rose above it.
Then, when I learned a year later that her story was being turned into a movie, I was very excited. I raced to the theater on Christmas Day and watched it.
This movie is, simply put, a triumph, practically imperfect in every way.
Whoa, hold on - what? IMPERFECT?!
Yes, imperfect. Let me explain.
From the opening moments to the final scene, Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks (as well as some wonderful supporting actors, including Paul Giamatti and Colin Farrell) show us that no one is perfect - and there's nothing wrong with that.
For instance, Pamela "PL" Travers is stubborn, angry, bitter, and (really) dead inside. For so long, she has allowed her anger and bitterness towards everyone fester inside. When Walt Disney asks to make a movie of her beloved Mary Poppins, she is reluctant in every way possible, wanting her work to be untarnished by "silly cartoons" and the color red.
Walt Disney himself is pushy, somewhat deceitful, and in the end, he does whatever he pleases to her movie. But he respects her and comforts her in many hours of need.
All in all, this movie is a wonderful movie about imperfect people. Imperfect people making imperfect movies about imperfect people. And, in the end, we laugh, we cry, we applaud, and we go back into our imperfect world. And that's okay.
That's okay.