I almost didn’t see this movie because the title turned me off. A few friends of mine said it was really good so Rob and I saw it and I’m glad we did.
The story takes place over two weeks in 1961. Walt Disney has been trying to make a movie of Mary Poppins (based the book by P.L.Travers) for about 20 years but she hasn’t sold him the movie rights.
Travers (Emma Thompson) is now going broke so she doesn’t have any other realistic choice but to sell the movie rights to Disney so that she can remain in her home in England.
She flies to LA where she spends time in Hollywood with Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and his creative team.
Travers; however, is sabotaging the project at every turn. Poor Walt is helpless and powerless to get Travers to cooperate and it looks like the movie will never be made.
Travers is incredibly uptight, rigid, cold and distant. The mystery is how did she get this way when she has such a great imagination?
The movie travels back and forth in time showing pieces of Travers’ early childhood with an alcoholic, banker father (Colin Farrell) with whom she was extremely close. The young Travers is played by Annie Rose Buckley who does really fine job, as do the other main leads.
Rating 8.0 ( Top 20 movie)
Dave
