Review: Saving Mr. Banks

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★½

Did you know “Mary Poppins” was nominated for 13 Academy Awards including Best Picture? As a self professed Oscar guru, I must admit that I wasn’t aware it was up for so many awards. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise seeing as its one of the most beloved movie musicals of all time. “Saving Mr. Banks” tells the story of how the rights for the book were acquired by Disney from the stubborn author. It also tells us what it is that makes the author so stubborn in the first place by looking into her childhood and the relationship with her father. By the way, “Mary Poppins” lost to “My Fair Lady” for Best Picture that year, but Julie Andrews won Best Acrtress.

Tom Hanks attempts to woo Emma Thompson in "Saving
Mr. Banks"

Pamela “P.L.” Travers (Emma Thompson) lives alone in her London house. It’s been almost 30 years since she published her hit novel Mary Poppins and Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) has been trying to make it into a movie for the last 20. Mrs. Travers has never signed the rights away because she hates Disney Animation films and doesn’t want see her beloved character transformed into a singing and dancing buffoon.

At the insistence of her agent, she agrees to fly to Los Angeles to meet with Disney himself and oversee some of the pre-production work. She has final approval of everything that goes into the script. She’s picked up at the airport by a Disney Studios driver, Ralph (Paul Giamatti) and taken to the studios where she meets with screenwriter Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) and the Sherman Brothers songwriting team Robert (B.J. Novak) and Richard (Jason Schwartzman). She sees the concepts for the art direction, the costume design, the goofy music with made up words, and worst of all: the concept drawings of a mustached Dick Van Dyke as Mr. George Banks. A lot of work needs to be done in order to get her to sign the rights over to Disney.

During her stay, Mrs. Travers reflects on her childhood in Australia in 1901. She loved her father Travers Goff (Colin Farrell) very much. He lovingly referred to her as Ginty (portrayed in these flashbacks by newcomer Annie Rose Buckley). Travers moved his family from one side of the continent to the other where he will work as a bank manager. He’s also a raging alcoholic, something he tries to hide from Ginty (unsuccessfully) but not from his wife Margaret (Ruth Wilson). These flashback scenes give us a great indication of where Mrs. Travers developed the idea of Mary Poppins. It’s made even more obvious when Ginty’s Aunt Ellie (Rachel Griffiths) shows up to help out when things aren’t going so well for the family. 

“Saving Mr. Banks” is much more than just a typical movie about making movies. It’s being advertised as the untold story of making “Mary Poppins,” but what we really get is the untold story of how the character and the book came into existence. “Saving Mr. Banks” is at its most entertaining when it involves Mrs. Travers and Disney, but it’s at its best during the Australian childhood scenes.

The best scenes take place between Annie Rose Buckely and
Colin Farrell

The screenplay comes from Kelly Marcel (who created the short lived Fox show “Terra Nova”) and Sue Smith (who has many small credits to her name) and it’s one of the most polished screenplays of the year. The most difficult part was tying in the present day and flashback sequences together so the flow of the plot wasn’t disrupted. They’ve succeeded in that regard. We also know how this movie is going to end before it even starts since we know there is a movie made by Disney called “Mary Poppins.” Despite that, the story is full of many different subplots (especially the Australian plot) to keep us entertained and keep curiosity piqued. All this is handled well by director John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side”).

Not only does Hancock see that this story moves along without issues, he also directs his cast into fine performances. Tom Hanks is the perfect pick to play Disney. Disney was a beloved Hollywood figure at that time, and Hanks is arguably the most beloved actor. He’s not on camera a whole lot throughout the movie, but he’s great when he does make an appearance.

Colin Farrell leads the way in the Australian plot and probably clocks more screen time than Hanks. This isn’t the first drama Farrell has done, but I’m not sure he’s ever been better. Hanks and Thompson seem to overshadow his performance – and he doesn’t even appear in the previews on TV – but he still puts on an absolutely brilliant performance. His young co-star, Annie Rose Buckley, steals the show at many times too. She helps us to understand why Mrs. Travers is the way that she is.

An Oscar nod is a pretty safe bet for Emma Thompson

In the end, this is Emma Thompson’s movie and she’s sensational in this role. Her character is very unlikeable from the moment the film begins. She’s not easy to root for, which makes it a challenge for both Thompson and Hancock. The script does leave her rather unlikable for almost the entire duration of the film, which is kind of disappointing. Unlikable characters aren’t so easy to empathize with. But it works here thanks to the flashback sequences. Buckley’s wide-eyed innocence and admiration for her father help us to understand Thompson’s sour outlook on just about everything. She becomes someone you can empathize with, and that’s what makes her a good character.

“Saving Mr. Banks” is simple and lovable. Fans of “Mary Poppins” will enjoy seeing how difficult it was to actually make this movie thanks to Mrs. Travers’ stubbornness. Fans of the movie making process will enjoy seeing another movie about these things are put together. And fans of great movies should appreciate almost everything else about this. A strong story and fantastic performances make “Saving Mr. Banks” one of the year’s best movies.

Review: Captain Phillips

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★½

Hollywood action films would be so much better if Paul Greengrass directed them all. He’s proven his ability already with “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum”. He’s also proven he can take a chilling real life event and make it into a brilliant film worth seeing, thanks to his 2006 masterpiece “United 93”. With “Captain Phillips”, Greengrass teams with Tom Hanks to bring us the true story of the first American ship taken under pirate control since the nineteenth century.

“Captain Phillips” follows the real events as they occurred in April 2009. Richard Phillips (Hanks) is the captain of the MV Maersk Alabama. After some brief back story between him and his wife Andrea (Catherine Keener), he’s headed out to sea. While moving freight off the West African coastline, the ship is boarded by four Somali pirates, lead by Muse (Barkhad Abdi). Most of the crew hides from the pirates in the ship’s engine room. Phillips remains on the bridge with other crew members as the pirates take over the ship. They’re elated to have captured an American ship, but don’t want to settle for the small amount of cash in the safe.

Muse goes in search of the crew and ends up getting caught. The crew strikes a deal with the other pirates to leave the ship on a lifeboat in exchange for their leader. This is accepted with Phillips offering to show them how to operate the lifeboat. Unfortunately, the pirates aren’t completely satisfied with the plan and end up taking Phillips along with them in the lifeboat after Muse is handed back over.  The Alabama follows the lifeboat which is headed back to Somalia. They call the hijacking into the United States Navy. It doesn’t take long for them to show up and begin the negotiating process of getting Phillips back unharmed.

“Captain Phillips” is a relentless thrill for almost the entire duration. Greengrass has mastered every aspect of these types of films. His handheld camera style and razor sharp editing, courtesy of his longtime collaborator Christopher Rouse, gives the sense that you’re just as much a part of this event as the characters on the screen.  His characters are all very realistic and empathetic, even his villains.

Much of this can also be attributed to the brilliant screenplay from “The Hunger Games” writer Billy Ray (who also wrote and directed the brilliant and much underappreciated 2003 film “Shattered Glass” featuring a brilliant performance from Peter Sarsgaard). Ray adapted his screenplay from Phillips’ own book about the ordeal called A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea. The most remarkable aspect of this script is the humanizing elements that are given to the pirates, especially Muse. The pirates are not soulless, one-dimensional monsters; they are people with a very real goal and a justifiable reason – at least in their minds.

That’s what makes a great villain: when they believe in what they’re doing, believing the cause is just. We, as an audience, won’t agree with the villain and that’s point. Without any reason or justification, a villain’s plan is simply chaos for the sake of chaos. This is not true in “Captain Phillips”. The pirates get their own screen time in Somalia before they even board the ship, setting up back story and showing us the conditions in which they live. Our sympathy is not expected, but we need to know that these are real people and not just angry monsters. Evil is real, and its bred from the environment.

Greengrass has already explored this element before in “United 93”. He made the daring decision to open the film with the hijackers preparing for the day rather than the passengers. He shows their fear and anxiety leading up to the hijacking. He shows the lead hijacker making one last phone call – presumably to loved one – before boarding his plane. Is he trying to make us feel sorry for them? Not at all. But he wants us to know these are more than just one-dimensional monsters known only to the public by black-and-white photocopies of passport pictures on every cable news network. They’re following a plan they believe is completely justified. The same is shown here in “Captain Phillips”. We know Muse and his cohorts better, we know where they’re coming from, and that makes them more terrifying.

Abdi portrays Muse and he steals the spotlight away from Hanks in every scene they share. He’s a Somali American with zero acting experience who won the role at an open casting call in Minnesota. He’s sensational. He portrays the character with such a wide range of emotions that are absent in some of the most seasoned actors. Due to the amount of back story given to Muse, Abdi brings him to life and easily makes him one of the best villains on screen in a long time.

In the end, this is Hanks’ film and he turns in yet another stunning and unforgettable performance. He plays the average-Joe character better than anyone else. There’s not anything extraordinary about Richard Phillips. He’s a family man making his living the best way he knows how. Hanks never tries to make Phillips into something he’s not. He’s a demanding boss, but looks out for the best interests of his crew, including keeping them safe after the boat is boarded. When kidnapped, Hanks shows fear but never overdoes the emotions. The last five or ten minutes of this film, however, he takes the performance to a whole new level. This is one of Hanks’ finest performances in his already long and decorated career.

“Captain Phillips” is a harrowing true story that will leave you gasping for air throughout its thrilling final act. It’s one of the better films to come out of a Hollywood studio this year, thanks to the brilliant direction of Greengrass, a masterfully written screenplay from Ray and stunning performances from Abdi and Hanks. Hollywood creative liberties are no doubt employed here, but I have a hard time believing that Greengrass drifted too far from the actual events. With that thought in mind, that makes this film and the story even more astonishing.