Ten Stars or Less

I’m about to get roasted here and I understand why. Mary Poppins is loved across generations young and old. At some point in my life I probably saw this movie, even if it wasn’t from start to finish, I knew many things about the film and story. With the exception of a few catchy songs and an amazing performance from Julie Andrews, I really wasn’t into this movie. Dick Van Dyke is someone I was also familiar with and really enjoyed his hilarious approach to everything. What I wasn’t interested in was when Mary takes the kids into the painting and they go off into a fantasy land. The story lost here and never really got me back. Besides the two leads stealing the scenes when paired together, what won me over was the performance of the dad, George Banks (David Tomlinson). No matter what scene he appeared in, his performance was really priceless. A jerk who worried too many about the little details to never see the big picture, he was gullible and stupid that he tripped over himself so much it made me laugh. His parts brought the movie to life unlike anything Mary or Bert could do. When he not part of the story I wasn’t as interested. The film is one of the best Disney released movie and is also very decorated with five Oscars and many other nominations. I feel that people won’t agree with my rating, but may understand why I feel the way I did. For all that it is worth, I am excited for the new Mary Poppins slated for a 2018 release with the talented Emily Blunt as a lead. 7/10