Saving Mr. Banks

There are few names as instantly recognizable, as iconic as Walt Disney, the hugely successful businessman who helped create the immense Disney empire. I grew up watching animated Disney movies with my sister, family and friends having been introduced to the older Disney genres at the same time so for me the 1950s and 1960s were the empire at its ultimate best. Think of all the backstories, all the explanations, all the little tidbits explaining how all those movies and TV shows came to be, like the classic 1964 film Mary Poppins, which we see in 2013's Saving Mr. Banks.

Struggling financially to make ends meet in her London home, Pamela 'P.L.' Travers (Emma Thompson) has agreed to do something she's avoided for 20 years. She agrees to meet Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) in Los Angeles to discuss selling the rights to her hugely successful children's book, Mary Poppins. While she could clearly use the money, Travers also is less than psyched to sell the rights to her most famous book, the one that put her on the literary map. The book, the story and the characters, they all mean too much to her, and she worries Walt Disney will "Disney-fy" it, adding animation and songs and a far-more lighthearted tone than her original book intends. Having long wanted to turn Travers' book into a feature film (having promised his daughters he would do so), Disney is going to put the full-court press on the author to get the job done. Who's going to buckle first?

There's something to be said for movies like this. Blend a well-written, entertaining story with some fun, memorable characters, throw some style in there for good measure, and let things fall where they may. It isn't trying to rewrite Film, instead it is content to tell that story and hopefully resonate that way. Director John Lee Hancock is a specialist at that type of film, and I mean that in the most positive sense. In terms of what it is trying to accomplish, it reminded me of two other Hancock films, The Rookie and The Blind Side. It certainly helps if you're a fan of the original Mary Poppins to get some of the jokes, the lines, the background, but it's not essential. The story is a good blend of drama and comedy, and don't be fooled. Hancock's film is most definitely trying to pull at your heart strings. Oh, and it does, and does it well.

The movie's success rides on the shoulders of stars Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks. I don't know if either will get any Academy Award nominations, but these are two very human, very layered performances. Over the last couple weeks, 'Banks' has taken some public grief because of its portrayal of Disney -- not too many flaws in view, read more HERE -- as that flawless, pretty perfect hero, but at no point was this a huge, digging character study of a movie. This is about two very stubborn folks who are willing to stick to their guns, Thompson's Travers and Hanks' Disney. Their scenes together crackle, Thompson perfectly cast as the icy, brutally honest author who wants to protect her own story, Hanks breathing life into a likable, charming and even then iconic Walt Disney. Thompson makes it hard at times, but you like both these characters. You're rooting for both of them.

So while I point out this isn't a movie too interested in the characters' real-life flaws, it also doesn't gloss over too much. While much of the story is spent in Los Angeles in the 1960s, a fairly large amount of time is spent in a flashback in the early 1900s in Australia, watching a young Travers grow up, seeing what becomes her inspiration for Mary Poppins and its characters. We see young Ginty (Annie Rose Buckley), her well-meaning father (Colin Farrell) with a drinking problem, her mother (Ruth Wilson), overwhelmed by her husband's drinking problems that affect all aspects of their life, and ultimately, Aunt Ellie (Rachel Griffiths), Travers' inspiration for Mary Poppins. Of the two halves of the story, I enjoyed the 1960s Disney portion more, but both hold their merits. It's never overdone even if its obvious where the 1900s Australia part is going. I was just more interested in how Mary Poppins came together, a battle of wills between Travers and Disney.

There isn't a weak performance in the movie. The supporting parts are filled out with some big names too, parts that are meant to flesh out the lead roles. My favorite part went to Paul Giamatti as Ralph, Pamela's appointed driver to chauffeur her around L.A. as she decides whether to sell the rights to her book. An eternal optimist with a bright outlook on life, even Travers' almost non-stop negativity can't weight on him. Bradley Whitford, B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman as Don DeGradi, the screenplay writer, and Robert and Richard Sherman, Mary Poppins' writers of the music and lyrics. The trio's scenes with Thompson are pretty perfect, three talented individuals seemingly working against a brick wall. It's also fun to see these rehearsal scenes coming together, seeing a handful of iconic scenes from Mary Poppins coming together, including some of its best and most memorable musical numbers. Also worth mentioning are Kathy Baker and Melanie Paxson as two secretaries working with Disney and Travers, almost as middlemen.

An underrated aspect of 'Banks' is the style. Immediately I felt transported back to Los Angeles in the 1960s. The look of the film is perfect from seeing Disneyland in the 1960s to the big boats that were once called cars to everyone wearing immaculate suits to work. The early 1960s were the Disney empire at a high point -- Swiss Family Robinson, 101 Dalmatians, The Sword and the Stone among many others -- and on a simple level, it's just fun to get an inside look at the making of one of Disney's most iconic films. Another positive is Thomas Newman's score, good without being overbearing. Mostly though, it's the moments that work. Through all the laughs, the emotional, dramatic moments work the best, especially as Thompson's Travers opens up a little, 'Let's Go Fly a Kite' providing a great moment.

It's a really good movie. That's it. Go see for yourself.

Saving Mr. Banks (2013): *** 1/2 /****

The Rookie (2002)

It is a dream of countless kids growing up across the world, to make it in the big leagues whether it's football or soccer, basketball or hockey. While the numbers may be changing in the U.S. suggesting that football is the most popular sport, there's still something romantic about baseball, making it to the bigs. How about a true story then turned schmaltzy but entertaining sports movie, 2002's The Rookie?

Having grown up in Big Lake, Texas, Jimmy Morris (Dennis Quaid) has carved out a nice, little life for him, with his wife, Lorri (Rachel Griffiths), three kids and solid job at the area high school as a chemistry teacher and head coach of the baseball team. Growing up, Jimmy showed a lot of potential for baseball, even getting drafted in 1983 only to blow his shoulder out. With his family and job, Jimmy has given up any hope of really truly playing baseball again, especially now that he's in his late 30s. Coaching his team though, he tries to motivate the group, but they end up doing just the same. Jimmy has been absolutely bringing it in batting practice so his team challenges him; if they win district and make the state playoffs, he has to attend a tryout for an MLB team. It's been a long, tough road to this point, but it's only just started for Jimmy, Lorri, his family, his team and the town of Big Lake.

From director John Lee Hancock, a native Texan himself, comes the story of one of the most unlikeliest of professional baseball players ever, Jim Morris. Over the 1999 and 2000 season, Morris pitched out of the bullpen for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, starting his major league career at the age of 35. Pretty crazy, huh? It's just the type of story you wouldn't believe unless you saw it happen. It's also the type of story that was tailor-made for a movie, especially one from Disney which can settle back and tell a good, old-fashioned, entertaining story focused on family, dreams and a community sticking together. Is it at different points cheesy, schmaltzy, obvious, and intentionally trying to tug at the old heart strings? Oh, yes, you bet, and it's the better for it. The underdog story in sports movies are a gimme -- a fastball down the middle if you will -- but this one is handled perfectly.

While this may not seem like a compliment, I do intend it that way. I think Dennis Quaid is one of the most likable, personable actors around these days. Then 45 years old -- playing a 35-year old -- Quaid is the heart of the movie and he succeeds on all levels. As a father, husband, teacher and coach, he's believable and sympathetic, a sort of everyman that most sports fans can get behind. Then, just as important, as a baseball player, he's just as believable. His throwing motion is a more than natural throw, giving some credence to Morris' status as a surprise fireballing lefty. Quaid nails the part, making the role very human as opposed to just a name and a dream. I especially loved the relationship Quaid's Jimmy has with his 8-year old son, Hunter (Angus T. Jones), his Dad's biggest supporter as he takes one last shot at achieving his dream.

Quaid is surrounded by a very capable cast, not a lot of A-list names but solid performances up and down the cast. Griffiths is very good as Lorri, Jimmy's wife who worries about her husband's health and well-being while also supporting him in chasing his dream. A part that would have been easy to make a dull stereotype is anything but, Griffiths giving it some depth. Brian Cox makes the most of a smallish part as Jim Sr., Jimmy's Dad who has a less than pleasant relationship with his son, Beth Grant playing Jimmy's far more sympathetic mother. Look for Jay Hernandez, Rick Gonzalez, Chad Lindberg and Angelo Spizzirri as some of the high school players on the baseball team. Also look for Royce D. Applegate as Henry, one of the town leaders in Big Lake who's always supported Jimmy and Russell Richardson as Brooks, another minor leaguer -- albeit a younger one -- working at getting to the majors with Jimmy.

Clocking in at 127 minutes, 'Rookie' does cover a lot of ground with a lot of characters drifting in and out of the story. It's not quite episodic in its storytelling technique, but it's getting there. Whether it's Jimmy growing up (played by Trevor Morgan) or his efforts as a high school teacher, the story flows well. It builds to the inevitable conclusion, Jimmy working his way up through the minors and then making his MLB debut as a reliever for the Devil Rays. Just a good story, one that kept me interested throughout.

There's some really great, really emotional moments throughout. I loved Jimmy telling Hunter from a phone booth that he made the Majors, his son beaming with pride as he asks questions. Then there's Jimmy's arrival at the big league club, walking around the clubhouse and seeing his name printed on a jersey hanging in his own locker. It's the little moments like that which help bring the movie together with Quaid its subtle, underplayed part. You can't go wrong with a good underdog story, especially when it's handled this well.

The Rookie (2002): *** 1/2 /****

The Alamo (2004)

Right from the get-go, it seemed 2004's The Alamo was doomed. Casting problems with casting and directing and especially the rating -- make it a hard R or a more family friendly PG-13 -- hung over the production.  Then once director John Lee Hancock finished the movie, an hour of his finished product was hacked away and the release date pushed back three months.  Finally released in theaters Easter weekend against Passion of the Christ, Hancock's movie bombed, barely making $20 million. Failure in theaters, yes, but that doesn't take away from one of my favorite movies on one of my favorite subjects.

It's February 1836 and less than 200 Texans and Mexicans have holed up in the Alamo, a crumbling adobe mission outside San Antonio.  Mexican dictator Santa Anna (Emilio Echevarria) leads an army numbering almost 5,000 men and means to squash this rebellion no matter the cost.  Inside the Alamo, three men lead the tiny garrison; Jim Bowie (Jason Patric), the infamous knife fighter, David Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton), a famed frontiersman and ex-Congressman, and William Travis (Patrick Wilson), a young unproven officer in the regular army.  As the siege wears on day after day, General Sam Houston (Dennis Quaid) tries to assemble an army to come to the aid of the besieged Alamo.  But inside the doomed mission, the defenders see more Mexican troops arriving daily and know what awaits them if they don't surrender.

Before I dive in, I'll say that ever since I was a kid, the story of the Alamo has appealed to me. I'll read and watch anything I can find on the subject. John Wayne's The Alamo is one of my two favorite movies, and even with extremely high expectations going into this one upon its initial release, I loved this movie. It feels crazy that it's almost 10 years since it was released in theaters. It is a shame also that Hancock's believed 3-hour version will never see the light of day. As is right now at 137 minutes, it has its fair share of flaws. At times, it's far too rushed. It has Pearl Harbor Syndrome as well, insisting on a happy ending as opposed to a more appropriate ending. But when it does get right? It hits a home run.

The shame of it is, Hancock has finished the most accurate re-telling of the Alamo battle, including the build-up and actual battle. An immense set in Dripping Springs, Texas was built including the actual Alamo mission and the nearby town of San Antonio. Like Wayne's version, having a full-scale set adds to the realism of the story and battle. The characters are not the legends we remember them as, but the people they actually were. People with personalities, hopes and dreams, fears and desires. The Alamo defenders weren't frontiersman, but townspeople like bankers, lawyers, farmers, and store owners. Without making them into the mythological characters they've become, Hancock has made a very human, personal movie. It's easy to see and feel what the defenders went through; an impossible situation with no easy resolution.

The Alamo story typically presents three main characters, the Alamo trinity of Crockett, Bowie and Travis. I'll get to all three, but the best performance hands down belongs to Billy Bob Thornton as Crockett. This is not the Fess Parker Crockett, but instead a regular guy who's tied down by his own legend he had little to do with creating. Of all the Crockett performances, this is the best, one I thought Thornton deserved an Oscar nomination for. The defenders look to him for support, for answers, for a way out. A monologue mid-siege is transfixing to watch, subtle and quiet but nonetheless highly effective. Another scene has Crockett playing his fiddle atop the Alamo walls, harmonizing with the Mexican army's band playing the Deguello (a high point of Carter Burwell's unassuming but still moving score). Watch the scene HERE. Somewhat controversially, the 2004 Alamo handled Crockett's death in a way no other Alamo movie even dared touch, Thornton rising to the occasion.

The diary of a Mexican soldier -- Enrique de la Pena -- who served at the Alamo claims that Crockett was captured in the closing moments of the battle and brought before a gloating Santa Anna. He was executed with a handful of other prisoners who survived the battle. This is the way the 2004 version chooses to go with, a scene that ends up being the most memorable one in the whole movie. This is Thornton bringing this man to life. Under his breath, Crockett mumbles 'Davy Crockett' as he faces death, his legend hanging over him as the Mexican army awaits what he will do. You can watch the scene HERE. Crockett's death -- whether by surrender/execution or going down fighting -- is maybe the most controversial aspect of the battle for Alamo buffs, but as presented here I can't understand anyone objecting to it.

Onto the other 2/3 of the Alamo trinity. About as far removed from a Hollywood star as possible, Patric is ideally suited to play Jim Bowie, a man who's earned his reputation where Crockett has had his thrust upon him. He's a hard-drinking, stubborn fighter, willing to fight it out if he believes he's right. Playing Colonel Travis, Wilson too shines, showing the transformation the young Alamo commander makes in such a short time as he attempts to rally the mission. All three men make these historical figures people and not just a name. Echevarria doesn't fare so well as Santa Anna, making the Mexican dictator a villain in the vein of a James Bond movie. Quaid too struggles to bring Houston to life, but much of his part was cut when the movie was hacked at to the tune of an hour of lost footage. Jordi Molla as Juan Seguin, a Mexican messenger from the Alamo, especially represents himself well as does Leon Rippy, Marc Blucas (as messenger James Bonham) and Kevin Page as Micajah Autry, Crockett's friend.

What The Alamo does well is especially evident in the choice to stay accurate to the final assault the morning of March 6 when the defenders were overwhelmed and killed to a man. It shows the attack in the morning darkness in an extended sequence that runs almost 15 minutes. Watch most of the sequence HERE. The scale is impressive, giving a real sense of what the battle must have been like. Actually imagine the setting; an enemy closing in on four sides and you've got nowhere to run. It isn't presented as a noble, heroic fight but a gruesome hand-to-hand conflict as sheer numbers overwhelm the Alamo defenders. It starts off in a great sequence as Crockett plucks the string on his fiddle, the shot changing with each pluck as the Mexican army silently approaches the Alamo walls. The most effective moment is a quiet one. Delirious with sickness, Bowie lies in bed barely able to move. He buttons up his vest, ready to face whatever comes through the door. As Rippy's Ward says "We know what awaits us and are prepared to meet it."

Wrapping up the movie is a rushed 20-minute follow-up, Houston's victory at San Jacinto. Like the Doolittle Raid being tacked onto Pearl Harbor, it feels unnecessary. It doesn't take away from a moving story though. The cast is nearly perfect, the music fitting and not your typical historical epic score, the actual Alamo set is a sight to behold, the camerawork and the visual are stunning, and like other successful Alamo movies, it gets the message across. Facing impossible odds, these defenders stood their ground, ready to give their lives because they believed they were right.

The Alamo <---trailer (2004): ****/****

The Blind Side

If pressed for my favorite type of movie behind the western, it would be a tough decision, but one of the main contenders would have to be sports movies. In comedy and drama, real life and fictional, old and new, sports movies seem to carry on. Even being pretty cynical when it comes to movies, the sports movie is the one genre I'm always happy to see the happy Hollywood ending.

Released in late November in theaters, The Blind Side is a perfect example of a movie that has thrived because of word of mouth. It got decent enough reviews but nothing extraordinary. Now two months later, Blind Side has earned over $200 million in theaters and is even picking up steam in hopes of getting some nominations coming up in awards season. I finally got around to seeing it this weekend -- 3 movies in theaters in one week is a new record for me -- and ended up loving this sugary, sappy sweet movie based on the true story of Baltimore Ravens lineman Michael Oher.

With a drug addict mother and a father who abandoned the family a week after his son was born, Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) cares for himself, staying with friends whenever he can and just barely skating by at school. He's accepted to Wingate Christian High School, a private school in Memphis, with some help of a friend's father, but just trying to survive takes priority over schoolwork. So one day walking back to the school gym to stay the night, Michael is stopped by Leigh Ann Touhey (Sandra Bullock) and her family driving home from a volleyball game.

Married to a well to-do businessman Sean (Tim McGraw) and with two kids, high school junior Collins (Lily Collins) and precocious youngster S.J. -- for Sean Jr -- (Jae Head), Leigh Ann has the ideal life. But seeing this high school student living on his own, Leigh Ann says he can come home with them and sleep on their couch. What starts as one night turns into another and another until Michael finally just moves in with them, with Leigh Ann and Sean finally becoming his legal guardians. Michael slowly opens up to them and really hits his stride when introduced to playing football. Standing 6'4 and weighing almost 300 lbs, Michael takes to the sport right away.

This movie doesn't have a negative bone in its body, and that's a good thing. Blind Side director John Lee Hancock has worked with true stories before, like 2004's The Alamo, and also true sports stories, 2002's The Rookie, and handles Michael Oher's story perfectly without being too sentimental...although it's hard not to feel for the character. Seeing him change and develop with his surroundings then is that much more effective when it does happen. From the get-go, you're in Michael's corner. He's trying to rise above a situation in the poorer neighborhoods of Memphis where very few people get out of. With help from the Touheys, he does just that.

Last night at the Golden Globes, Sandra Bullock won the award for best actress in a motion picture, and good for her. I've always thought of her more as a comedic actress -- although she was excellent in Crash playing completely against type -- but Bullock delves into the Leigh Ann Touhy character and brings her to life. Full of personality and personal beliefs, it's hard to take your eyes away from her. Where Bullock's Touhey is out-going and downright confrontational at times, Aaron's Michael is just the opposite. He's quiet, mild-mannered and generally introverted until he's given a chance to express himself, and that's when he begins to thrive. It is a great performance by Aaron and hopefully a springboard for him in the future.

Bullock and Aaron dominate the movie's screentime, and it is their relationship that the movie succeeds with, but the supporting cast does not disappoint. If anything, McGraw is underused as Leigh Ann's husband Sean, but with what's provided makes the most of of thinly written part. Young Jae Head is that movie kid, the one who talks like no kid ever has, but is very cute, very precocious in doing it. His bonding with Michael provides some of the movie's funnier moments. Kathy Bates also makes an appearance as Miss Sue, Michael's tutor and Ray McKinnon hams it up as Coach Cotton, Wingate's football coach.

Like most serious sports movies, Hancock's Blind Side does attempt to pull the old heart-strings a bit but it doesn't try too hard. Because of that, the movie works in that middle ground, not too sappy, not too distant. Working with a true story and real people has to be tricky, but the movie handles it well. Highly enjoyable overall for a good old-fashioned well told story. It's weird how good stories turn into good movies, isn't it?

The Blind Side <----trailer (2009) *** 1/2 /*****