Oscar voters tend to love movies about their town and Saving Mr. Banks not only centers on Hollywood, but details the making of a beloved picture and has A-list talent involved.
The film centers on the production of 1964’s Mary Poppins, casting Emma Thompson as the book’s author P.L. Travers with Tom Hanks portraying the legendary Walt Disney. Judging from the trailer, the collaboration of Travers and Disney was not always a smooth one. John Lee Hancock is behind the camera and his last feature was an audience pleaser and Best Picture nominee, 2009’s The Blind Side. The supporting cast includes Paul Giamatti, Jason Schwartzman, Bradley Whitford, and Colin Farrell.
Saving Mr. Banks is set for a December 20th release and I would expect it to be in the conversation for not just Best Picture, but also Thompson in the Best Actress race (she won in 1992 for Howards End) and Hanks for Best Supporting Actor (he won the lead actor category in 1993 and 1994 for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump). For Hanks, he will also be in contention for Best Actor for this fall’s Captain Phillips. Hard to believe, but it’s been 13 years since his last nomination for 2000’s Cast Away.
The picture is the latest example of one to watch come Oscar nomination time. Coming up soon on the blog, I’ll do my first round of ridiculously early Oscar predictions. Stay tuned!
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In my opinion, Saving Mr Banks can to have these nomination: best picture, actress in a leading role (Thompson), actor in a supporting role (Hanks), original screenplay, art direction, costume design and original score. Good chance for original score: Thomas Newman as eleven nomination and still not victory.