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A Bucketful Of Sugar

"Saving Mr. Banks" is not the Christmas miracle it wants to be. While it's a nice enough film, it isn't destined to be any kind of classic, in the realm of its iconic subject "Mary Poppins." It is too soft and manipulative for its own good, even with the bitter barbs provided by Emma Thompson.

Directed by John Lee Hancock ("The Blind Side") and written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, "Saving Mr. Banks" is the sort-of-true story about the author of "Mary Poppins." P.L. Travers (Thompson) is very protective of her book, and Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) desperately wants to turn it into a musical feature, due to a promise he made to his daughters. He has been trying for 20 years and finally Travers makes her way from the U.K. to Los Angeles in 1961 to hear him out, since her funds are running low. "Mary Poppins absolutely does not sing," Travers insists. "I won't have her be one of your silly cartoons." Well, so much for that.

This is a feel-good family movie, except for all the flashbacks of Travers' daddy issues. Really there are a lot of them, and Colin Farrell does a good job portraying her struggling, boozy father in the early 1900s. But the movie suggests that Travers is working through her childhood traumas by releasing the rights of "Mary Poppins" into the hands of hitmaker Walt Disney. True story, or Disney fabrication released by Walt Disney Pictures? One might wonder. It goes way overboard on the father fixation and is just more fun when it's Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak playing piano and singing songs to try and woo Travers into letting them make the movie.

It's also entertaining to watch Travers and Disney get into arguments and debates about the big-screen adaptation. Hanks is a tad creepy as Disney, seeming both like a gentle therapist and a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. His hopeful gooeyness is in direct odds with Thompson's snide stuffiness, and they play well off each other. The real Disney was probably used to getting whatever he desired so it was hard to strong-arm a strong woman with a very clear idea for the film (No music! No red!) He prevailed though, because he's Disney, and the rest is history.

If you're curious about the backstory of Mary Poppins - or your girlfriend is, and you get dragged to the movie - then there will be some interesting tidbits to discover, and be sure to stay through the credits. Just be prepared for a lot of heavy-handed catharsis where there should be dance numbers.