A Pleasure Watching

Rating: 8/10 (10 January 2014)

Saving Mr. Banks is a film directed by John Lee Hancock, and stars Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks and Paul Giamatti, and centres around the author P.L. Travers, who created the book Mary Poppins. We watch as she goes to Los Angeles to have talks with Walt Disney, who wants to adapt her book into a film. During all this, she reflects on her hard childhood, and how it influenced Mary Poppins later on in her life.
To begin with, the performances. Emma Thompson is wonderful in this film. She brings a lot of energy to a character which almost refuses to get up and have some fun, which in my mind, is quite the achievement. Thompson really steals the show, despite Tom Hanks giving a fantastic performance as well, as Walt Disney. I must say, he nails the moustache! The rest of the ensemble, including Paul Giamatti and the surprisingly powerful Colin Firth, give top-notch performances. Ultimately, in the acting category, there is nothing to criticise.
The film is cut into two halves; one half, where she is in talks with Mr. Disney, and the other being her childhood. I felt that the talks with Mr. Disney, and the arguments she had with the screenwriters and music composers were easily the best parts of the film. They're full of energy, clashing personalities and some wonderful music. When it came to the second half though, her childhood, I found that these flashbacks seemed slightly bloated, or went on for a little too long. For the most part, they did explain important, key events which helped shaped her future. There were a few flashbacks in which I found seemed to drag on a little, and couldn't hold my interest for very long. These flashbacks, I found, were a little more common than I originally anticipated coming into the film, and ultimately, they did negatively impact the film for me.
Ultimately, I can't really criticise this film any more. It's very well acted, well paced for the most part, and the plot is consistent and quite accurate to the real story. This film will win awards, undeniably, and I'm not going to be annoyed by this, as I can understand why. For the most part, it's a very well done film, that should serve as a must watch for everyone!
8.4/10