Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2140373/

A nice film, with just a few flaws, nothing too horrible but enough to keep it from greatness. The story of the realization of the movie musical Mary Poppins by Walt Disney, the story pits Walt (Tom Hanks) against PT Travers (Emma Thompson) in a battle over story rights, frivolous songs and dancing penguins. A key requirement for getting and enjoying this film is to be familiar with the other - if you have neither seen nor know anything about Mary Poppins, this film will be mostly meaningless to you. If you are a fan of Mary's, this film should be delightful. The only parts that let the film down are the flashbacks to Travers' childhood in Australia. While an integral part of the story, this portion of the movie is poorly done. The characters are not given much depth and are more caricatures - the drunken father (in a role that would seem tailor-made for him, Colin Farrell founders), the mother used to better things, the daughter under the spell of her fantastic dad, even the bright golden glow of Australia seems overdone. The better parts are in California, where Travers' hostility is eventually charmed by Disney and his crew of merry (or Mary) makers, complete with the Hollywood last-ditch impassioned "trust me with her" speech that finally completes the transaction. The rest is history. While nothing particularly exceptional here, Hanks and Thompson, along with all of the Hollywood cast, are all great. Too bad about the stuff from Downunder, which undermines the great with the mediocre.