There’s a good chance that I will write a column about overrated films at some point. If I do, Mary Poppins will feature in it. Maybe I saw it first too late in my childhood but the combination of the cloying sentimentality, irritatingly upbeat songs and Dick Van Dyke’s cockney accent (by way of Sydney) left me cold. So, you might think it is odd that I went to see Saving Mr Banks, but I usually find films about film-making interesting no matter what the film in question is.
In Saving Mr Banks, Emma Thompson stars as PL Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, and Tom Hanks co-stars as Walt Disney who is trying to persuade the reluctant Travers to sign over the rights of her book to him. The scenes that Thompson and Hanks share have a real spark and those featuring Mary Poppins scriptwriter and song writers trying to work with Travers are consistently fun.
For example, when they confirm that Mr Van Dyke is first choice for the role of Bert, her retort is hilarious. In fact, Thompson is excellent throughout the film as you would expect, and Hanks is also great as the genial Walt. Good support is given by Bradley Whitford as Don DaGradi and Paul Giamatti as Travers’ driver.
If the film had concentrated on that aspect of the story with those characters, it would have been slight but enjoyable. However, in an attempt to give it more emotional depth and place her life and attitude into context, we are subjected to flashback scenes of Travers’ Australian childhood. I felt my heart sink every time we found ourselves back in rural Australia. Those scenes are without exception boring and predictable.
If my enjoyment hadn’t already been ruined, I might have overlooked the ending of the film where Travers sees and enjoys the finished version of Mary Poppins. It is well documented that in reality she hated it so much she refused any other requests for any of her books to be adapted for stage or screen, and in this film, her shift from being completely against making the film to loving it doesn’t ring true. I recommend that this is best watched when it is shown on TV or on DVD when you can fast forward through the dull bits!