Theater Review: Saving Mr. Banks

I love finding out the back stories of some of my favorite things. Sometimes they aren't what they seem, but you usually find out some pretty cool information.

Saving Mr. Banks is the behind-the-scenes process of bringing Mary Poppins to the big screen at Walt Disney Studios.

P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) created the character Mary Poppins for children's books that she had written. And, as we see in flashbacks of Travers' childhood, Poppins is more than just a character in a book to her.

Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) promised his daughters more than 20 years ago that he would bring their favorite book to the big screen - and he began trying to court Mrs. Travers in doing so.

Travers, though, only saw Disney as that animated place - and never saw Mary Poppins as an animated feature, nor did she see it as a musical.

After 20 years, the book money has not been coming in as frequently and Travers had begun to run out of money. So, she decided to take a trip out to Los Angeles to meet with Disney and his crew about the possibility of bringing Mary Poppins to the big screen.

Of course, Travers is anything but helpful along the way. In fact, she pretty much hates everything. She forced each meeting to be recorded. I really had never heard of the practice before of pretty much fleshing out the entire movie before even acquiring the rights - perhaps it happens and we just don't hear about it.

Richard (Jason Schwartzman) and Robert (B.J. Novak) Sherman present many songs they have written for her movie - and of course they clash with her. Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford) was the screenwriter for the film and all three bent over backwards to make things work.

The only person Travers opened up to during her entire trip was her driver Ralph (Paul Giamatti), who she said was the only American she could stand.

Though she was a pill, Disney actually understood her - in fact, she probably was the best person go through this process with her. He too once had an imaginary family member that someone wanted to purchase - and he never gave him up.

Obviously, in the end the movie ended up being made under the Disney banner - and Disney ended up getting his way with a lot of the things Travers disagreed with, including having Dick Van Dyke play Bert.

The acting, especially Hanks and Thompson, was outstanding. Thompson was so spiteful as Travers - she really got into the character very well. Hanks was great as Disney as well, it was the first time ever that Disney had been portrayed in a film.

Novak and Schwartzman both stood out as the Sherman brothers, and Whitford and Giamatti are both their outstanding selves.

In flashbacks, Colin Farrell played Travers' dad and Annie Rose Buckley, in her first film role, plays a young Travers - and I thought she was amazing in the role.

Overall, a great telling of the story - and a great use of flashbacks to allow the viewer to see why it is so difficult for Travers to allow Disney to make this into a movie.

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Funny People

So, after my last list of movies I have watched in my Quick Shots, I realized I have been watching way too many romantic comedies. Now, I don't mind watching them, but I need to mix it up a little. So, I did my best over the three day holiday to steer clear of them.

But, I sort of unfortunately backed into one accidentally. It isn't a full blown romantic comedy, but the core of the film has a lot to do with relationships.

I tossed in Funny People not expecting too much. I had heard from numerous people that they went in expecting a top of the line comedy and came out majorly disappointed. So, I went in expecting nothing and hoped that would help me understand and enjoy the film much more.

George Simmons (Adam Sandler) is your typical stand-up comedian that hits the big time and then becomes way too big even for himself. He has grossed millions of dollars in big-budget comedy films, has the biggest house he could ever want, loads of free stuff and people that basically take care of his every need.

Simmons, over time, has sort of become too big for himself. However, he has just found out that he has a rare form of leukemia (I believe that was the disease, I am not 100% sure) and begins to realize that his life is empty.

Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) is a low on the totem pole comedian. He is just starting out and works in a cafe at a grocery store to make ends meet. He is also staying on his friends pull-out couch. He lives with two other friends, Mark Taylor Jackson (Jason Schwartzman), who has hit it somewhat big with his television show Hey Teach!, and Leo Koenig (Jonah Hill), who is also a stand up comedian, but is a little better at it than Ira.

One night while doing stand up, Simmons bumps Wright to do a short set, but manages to just tell depressing stories to the audience. Wright follows him and begins to make fun of Simmons' crying - "What does he have to be sad about?"

Despite being made fun of, Simmons feels Wright has a bit of writing talent and signs him to be his assistant and write jokes for him.

To me, the meat of this movie was about the relationship that forms between Simmons and Wright. There is also another relationship between Simmons and his ex-girlfriend Laura (Leslie Mann). In that relationship, Simmons feels that the reason he is not happy is because he cheated on Laura and lost her. Again, I feel that that storyline only really strengthened the relationship of Simmons and Wright.

I went in expecting nothing and I feel I did enjoy it a little more than I would have if I was expecting a full-fledge comedy. That being said, it still wasn't the greatest - it was sort of blah. A nice watch, but nothing spectacular.

I did laugh-out-loud a handful of times though. The movie did have some great jokes that kept it flowing, but it just wasn't enough for me.

Grade: