--- title: "Saving Mr. Banks: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/saving-mr-banks/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/saving-mr-banks" critics_score: 59 critics_reviews: 21 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Saving Mr. Banks (2013): what the critics said Critics' score 59 from 21 reviews: 8 positive, 7 mixed, 6 negative. The reviews are mixed, with praise clustering most consistently around Emma Thompson’s sharp, funny and sometimes affecting portrayal of P. L. Travers. Even several detractors admire her performance, while Tom Hanks earns credit for his affability as Walt Disney and the lively sparring between the leads. Supporters find an entertaining, moving account of their cultural clash, with the comedy often surviving reservations about the film’s sentimentality. The main divide is over how much that sentimentality costs the story: some critics accept the emotional pressure, while others see a simplified account that flatters Disney and diminishes Travers. Childhood flashbacks draw repeated complaints for interrupting the livelier scenes and explaining her past too bluntly. The spread is wide: Radio Times finds the film hugely entertaining and moving, whereas Vulture finds it interminable and emotionally unconvincing, welcoming the Sherman brothers’ songs as a source of energy. ## Radio Times — Alan Jones Rating 5/5. The critic calls the film hugely entertaining, informative and ultimately moving. They single out the sharply witty cultural clash between Walt Disney and P. L. Travers. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-dqi6hg/saving-mr-banks/) ## Time Out — Cath Clarke Rating 4/5. 26 November 2013. The review is positive, praising Emma Thompson’s performance as Pamela Travers. It singles out her sharply entertaining portrayal of the author as a battleaxe. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/saving-mr-banks) ## Empire — Helen O'Hara Fi1m's normalised score 78/100 (inferred from the text). 25 July 2013. O'Hara finds the film a delicate, brilliantly acted story, with Emma Thompson especially magnetic. She praises Colin Farrell’s pathos but faults the overused childhood flashbacks. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/saving-mr-banks-review/) ## IndieWire — Matt Mueller Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 8 November 2013. Mueller finds the film robustly entertaining, though softened and Disneyfied in its treatment of events. He especially praises Emma Thompson’s prickly, comic portrayal of P.L. Travers. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/review-thompson-triumphs-in-saving-mr-banks-which-adds-spoonful-of-sugar-to-backstage-mary-poppins-tale-trailer-195163/) ## Variety — Scott Foundas Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 20 October 2013. Festival review. Foundas finds the film a warmly entertaining, old-fashioned Disney valentine, though its storytelling can be too on-the-nose and eager to tug at heartstrings. He especially praises Emma Thompson’s performance and Tom Hanks’s capture of Disney’s folksy charisma. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/film-review-saving-mr-banks-1200745274/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 12 December 2013. Turan finds the film engaging, though its direction is overly soft and its past-set scenes push emotion too insistently. He singles out Emma Thompson’s gleefully sharp performance as the film’s chief strength. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-saving-mr-banks-review-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). The accessible page does not reveal the critic's verdict. It provides no verifiable detail about what the review praises or criticizes. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/saving-mr-banks-2013) ## Screen Daily — Mark Adams, chief film critic Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 20 October 2013. The accessible page identifies this as a review, but its verdict is hidden behind the access prompt. No praise or complaint is available in the visible text. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/saving-mr-banks/5062667.article) ## The AV Club — A.A. Dowd Rating C. 12 December 2013. Dowd finds the film overly sentimental and critical of its own subject’s history, despite some lively comedy. He praises the writers’ room scenes but faults the jarring flashbacks and the film’s simplistic, emotionally manipulative defense of Disney. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/disney-celebrates-selling-out-and-its-own-victories-wit-1798178971) ## Film Comment — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). Romney frames the film as Disney-style therapy, with unhappy childhoods softened into sentimental spectacle. The standfirst singles out kites and animated penguins as tools of that smoothing. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/review-saving-mr-banks-tom-hanks-emma-thompson/) ## The New Yorker Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 23 December 2013. The critic finds the film efficient to a fault, with its painful past too easily dissolved into laughter and catharsis. Emma Thompson’s mix of sharpness and solitude gives the story its most affecting complexity. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/saving-mr-banks-2) ## Slant Magazine — Nick McCarthy Rating 1.5/4. 6 December 2013. McCarthy finds the film a saccharine, unearned tale of memory and redemption that ultimately validates Disney’s glossy version of events. He criticizes its blunt, overemphatic flashbacks for reducing Travers’s complicated past to a simplistic psychological explanation. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/saving-mr-banks/) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 29 November 2013. The critic finds the film ultimately self-congratulatory corporate promotion despite its family-friendly appeal. Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks are singled out as a class act. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/saving-mr-banks-film-review-8972099.html) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 20 October 2013. Festival review. Bradshaw finds the film overlong, bland and excessively sentimental, though it mostly manages to hold together. He praises Tom Hanks’s entertaining portrayal of Walt Disney, which he says keeps the film from being bland. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/oct/20/saving-mr-banks-review) ## Vulture — David Edelstein Fi1m's normalised score 10/100 (inferred from the text). 20 December 2013. Edelstein finds the film interminable, criticizing its obviousness and lack of emotional connection. He singles out the Sherman brothers’ songs as a welcome source of zest and uplift. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2013/12/movie-review-saving-mr-banks.html) ## Den of Geek — Don Kaye Rating 4/5. 20 December 2013. The critic finds the film compelling and moving despite its formulaic, occasionally maudlin script. Emma Thompson’s performance and the emotional scene where Travers watches the finished film receive particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/saving-mr-banks-review/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 6 November 2013. The critic finds the film whimsical, moving, and insightful despite its manipulative moments. They single out Emma Thompson’s performance and the emotional force of watching Travers experience Mary Poppins on screen. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/saving-mr-banks-review-emma-thompson-tom-hanks-spit-spot-hollywood-valentine/) ## /Film — Germain Lussier Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 8 November 2013. The visible article text does not state the reviewers’ verdict. It gives no specific praise or complaint from the review. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/528886/saving-mr-banks-video-blogreview-a-disney-movie-made-with-disney-magic/) ## Paste — Tim Grierson Rating 6.2. 10 December 2013. Grierson finds the film likable and moving at times, but ultimately too simplistic and self-congratulatory. He praises its emotional force near the premiere while criticizing its minimizing portrayal of Travers’s creative process. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/saving-mr-banks) ## Digital Spy — Stella Papamichael Rating 3/5. 20 October 2013. Festival review. The review finds the film entertaining but sometimes ungainly and contrived. It praises Emma Thompson’s rousing lead performance and the lively sparring between her and Tom Hanks. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/bfi-london-film-festival/a524876/saving-mr-banks-review-bfi-london-film-festival-2013/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating D+. 12 December 2013. Goldberg finds the film manipulative and historically whitewashed, with its warm tone unable to disguise self-congratulatory motives. He praises Tom Hanks’s affability, while criticizing the script for turning him into a savior figure. [Read the review](https://collider.com/saving-mr-banks-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/saving-mr-banks.md