Saving Mr. Banks

Another film I missed at the cinema, and another film I have now been able to see via Sky Movies. And I'm mighty glad I did. To me, Saving Mr. Banks is a truly joyous, touching and wondrous film, and it is as simple as that. Well...not quite as simple as that. For you see, this film takes a Disney trans-generational classic, i.e. Mary Poppins, and tells the story of how it came to be. I have to admit that I, along with a few others I'm sure, was a tad trepidatious about this potential trifling with such an iconic cinematic institution, in a similar vein to Emma Thompson's P.L. Travers' trepidation over Tom Hanks' Walt Disney taking hold of her beloved Mary Poppins character. 

However I, like Travers in the film, eventually needn't have worried; the end result was a masterpiece.

Really though, in the hands of Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, two acting and cinematic legends, both of our time or any time, what could possibly go wrong? That said, these two titans of talent still managed to outdo themselves and my expectations. Tom Hanks is Walt Disney, and that's an end of it. Effortless, seamless, stupendous;  such was the great actor's embodiment of that famed great man. In illustrious lust for life as well as poignant and reflective pause, Tom Hanks' performance is simply and utterly superb in Saving Mr. Banks. 

So too is that of Emma Thompson, for she equally and just as masterfully captures P.L Travers, and then throws her back at the audience with total intricate intrigue and blanketing majesty. Occasionally her mannerisms drift a tad too far into the "upper class English twit" zone but not too bleakly, and this often makes for very aloof humour that just adds to Thompson's charm.

Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, whilst remarkable in their own many and unique ways, merely lead a supremely talented cast that make for a truly superb picture. Notable among them is Colin Farrell, who truthfully I was expecting to have little more than an extended cameo in Saving Mr. Banks, but instead played an integral and wonderful role in proceedings as Travers' loving but damaged father. Farrell's delivery of this character really fleshes out and defines the many flashback scenes in this film, which make for  many an enchanting, fantastical and heart-warming moment.

Another casting and thus performance gem comes in the form of the multi-talented and well loved Paul Giamatti as Travers' driver Ralph. Here is a very understated and humble role but one that just injects that much more heart and quality into the film to wonderful effect.

Not only does each actor establish their character absurdly well, but the chemistry and interplay shown between each of them is just marvelous to behold. This is certainly not just a straight forward film from cause to affect, showing the beginning and end of the Mary Poppins process, but a multi-faceted, fluidly paced brilliant film that delights and saddens almost at the same time.

Historically interesting, dramatically powerful, cinematically beautiful, musically superb, talent-wise pretty darn perfect; Saving Mr. Banks was a true joy for me to watch, as you can probably tell. Like Mary Poppins of 1964 before it, I really do feel Saving Mr. Banks to be utterly timeless, and I am sure it too will go on to become a great classic film.