There are few films this year that will fill you with the kind of wonderment and joy than Saving Mr. Banks. Channeling the spirit of their glory years, Disney has managed to craft a tale that’s reverential without being overly sentimental. Showbiz stories often fail at this but Banks provides an interesting insight into the making of a fascinating picture.

Saving Mr. Banks tells the story of P.L.Travers, writer of the famous book Mary Poppins, and the tussle between her and Walt Disney as he tries to acquire the rights to said book. For two weeks in 1961, Travers ventured to Los Angeles to be wined and dined by the Disney brand in the hopes that Travers would do what she hadn’t done in the past 20 years, sign off on their feature film adaptation. But despite the best efforts of the crew and the amazing songs, the author wouldn’t budge and from there it becomes a push and pull effort and a trip down memory lane in order to get the film made.

Emma Thompson is incredible as P.L. Travers. It’s such a wonderful thing to have this actress back on our movie screens and she gives a performance that certainly deserves recognition. Never, not once, at any point in time during this movie did I not like Travers, even though she was being incredibly insensitive at points, and that’s a testament to the performance she gives. Thompson is particularly effective at showing the cracks in the put together woman without exploiting them. She’s matched tit for tat by Tom Hanks. I haven’t the slightest clue why Tom Hanks has decided that 2013 is the years he wants to KO my ability not to cry in movies but goodness me did he try my emotions at the end. That’s not to say his performance is super heavy. On the contrary, this is one of the most fun performances I have seen all year with him channeling Walt Disney. Also delivering great performances were BJ Novak and Jason Schwartzman as the Sherman Bros who created the infectious tunes in Mary Poppins and Colin Farrell as Travers father.

The screenplay, written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith, was a Blacklist finalist and you can certainly see why. Saving Mr. Banks moves along with an efficient pace, while managing to create several great moments. I was impressed at how they manage to create characters that felt truthful and not just movie representations of real people. The film also doesn’t shy away from the darker elements and prickly natures of the world. The only issue I felt with the script was that the flashbacks set up a particular storyline but take a bit too long to get to the point. Saving Mr. Banks however, doesn’t get mired down with them, instead boosting itself with some sharp humor and incredible behind the curtain feel.

John Lee Hancock is a compitent director and brings a sure hand to material that could have felt too saccharine. It’s a skill balancing the tones and for the majority of the film he succeeds. There’s some dazzling sequences in Saving Mr Banks, most of them involving the songs created for Mary Poppins. His decision to cross cut between the Bank song and Travers Goff giving a speech is particularly inspired and your soul soars when they perform Let’s Go Fly a Kite. Hancock stumbles a bit in handling the flashback sequences and the middle feels a bit long. Luckily he recovers quickly and delivers an edning that very emotional.

I honestly can’t think of much bad to say about the film. Saving Mr. Banks is so earnest and wonderful that it’s hard t do anything but get caught up in it’s spell.

Grade: ***1/2/**** (A-)