Saving Mr. Banks

2013, 12, Directed by John Lee Hancock
Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Bradley Whitford, Colin Farrell

 

One of the most frustrating factors in biopics are usually the wasted opportunity to explore the most interesting of characters. 2013 was the year of Diana, remember. Conversely, there are those that present us with a blurred real-life figure who is shifted sharply into focus by an enthralling piece of cinema (George Clooney's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind springs to memory.)

It's something of an alarm to realise that somebody whose life hasn't been placed under microscope and in front of camera is one whose very influence still shapes cinema today - Walt Disney; a powerhouse historical figure, who audiences would gladly delve into a film of... But be sure, Saving Mr. Banks is not it.

Instead, John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) opts to show us the fortunately screen-friendly story of the legendary Mary Poppins' journey from the English page of P.L. Travers to the Hollywood studio of the moustachioed mouse-creating maestro. Uppity tea-sipping author Travers is played by Emma Thompson, an actress so adept at doing pretty much anything and achieving the desired response - here, she frustrates at her refusal to give up her novel to a bunch of savages who she's convinced would rip the pages to pieces and destroy the character she so lovingly crafted. Sitting in on - and recording every word of - the read-throughs with producer Don DeGradi (Bradley Whitford) and composing Sherman brother duo (B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman), these scenes shine with an air of irrationality, and will glisten with your giggle (ironic, considering their later assurance of hatred for Travers.) Thompson takes the irrefutably tough-to-like and difficult to encrypt author, and turns her near-stereotypically fuddity into a comedic flourish.

Yet this is very much a film of two halves. Providing context behind the creation of Mary Poppins ('never ever just Mary,' she scolds at one stage) and her longing to preserve the beloved character from becoming just another pretty woman who sings, are childhood flashbacks. Travers grew up on a ranch in Australia, where her father Mr. Banks (Colin Farrell) fed her fairytales and fantasies, whilst swigging bottles of alcohol and destroying his family on the sly. There's hints to quite a tragic upbringing, and moments in the film's present that correlate with specifics of the past, yet whenever we flit back to that ranch, the film loses the very magic ole' Walt would have ensured was there. They seriously endanger the fluidity of Saving Mr. Banks, despite some pleasant performances from Farrell and child actor Annie Rose Buckley.

Much like a Beatles fan gets joy from hearing original recordings of classic tracks, Mary Poppins fans can revel in seeing the creation of now-familial tunes. With much to love on the surface - genuine laughs, and a charmingly sweet appearance from Paul Giamatti as Travers' driver - and the closest the film allows her to have as a friend - the structure is toppled by the tedious reversion to backstory. Omitting these would have done the film some saving.

3.5/5

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Sherlock Holmes

2009, 12, Directed by Guy Ritchie

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Rachel MacAdams, Mark Strong

It may be difficult to fathom how Guy Ritchie went from directing gritty hits Lock, Stock… and Snatch to shooting an ex-washed up Canadian actor darting about a London back-drop playing pipe-smoking and wise-cracking literary figure, Sherlock Holmes. The more attention you pay to this attempt to fathom, the more you begin to question the outcome. Which speaks volumes about the first in an inevitably long-line of screen incarnations of Holmes – of course, played by Robert Downey, Jr., who of course proves he is the only one who could have contemporarily filled this role in such a way as he does. The sheer energy he exemplifies through the barnstorming action sequences that he and pal Doctor Watson (a grounded Jude Law) are propelled into in almost every other scene is second to none, showing that he can not only multi-task successfully, but remain extremely suave and level-headed also – as if he didn’t do that enough in Jon Favreau’s Iron Man films.

As far as the plot goes, Holmes and Watson are pitted against Mark Strong’s Lord Blackwood, an evil practitioner of dark magic. As far as villains go, he emerges as a pretty tame one, compared to say, The Joker from Christopher Nolan’s Batman series. In fact, comparing the two franchises, it is clear the route Ritchie is headed for; whilst Gotham upholds a mystique of darkness, Holmes' Baker Street abode is sat in a murky London where you somehow just know everything will work out for the better. However, for all the tongue that lies firmly in cheek, there is an underlying seriousness to proceedings, which is expressed through some left-field twists. It is unfortun ate thatthe film’s ultimate undoing is the reversal of these twists, leading the film to become tiresome and, when all is said and done just a bit too cheeky: it seems as if all the characters are savvy to everything, and simply withholding the relevant information from the watchful audience - all for the sake of extending the film’s running time.

As for Rachel MacAdams’ Irene, the word that springs to mind is – quite simply – unexplored. But with heavy reliance on the often hilarious interactions between buddies Holmes and Watson  (Holmes points a sword in Watson’s face, to be told ‘get that out of my face’. Holmes' swift response? ‘It’s not in your face, it’s in my hand’), as well as welcome stylistic action, Sherlock Holmes is not the disaster many people may have expected. And with a teaser tantalisingly placed near the film’s climax, the sequel – Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows – has just hit cinemas amidst plent of excitement.

3/5

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