Reviews

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

I caught this one on ABCFamily Channel the other night, and while the setting is beautiful and the actors do a great job with the material they're given, something about the whole thing was just. . .off.

Sela Ward--who stands with Jennifer Aniston and Susan Sarandon as one of the most beautiful women in show biz today--has the title role. We also see Roscoe Born--who played Joe Novak in "Ryan's Hope"--as the childhood friend who's always been in love with Sarah and still is, even though she's chosen another man to marry. And Morgan Fairchild--another beautiful lady who, alas, always gets stuck with the second banana, duplicitous friend role. Michael Woods--a man with a very familiar face, maybe from print or TV ads--is Sarah's sexy new husband. (Someone give this man a starring role of his own--he's worth watching!!) Veteran actress and former cosmetics executive Polly Bergen is almost unrecognizable here as a longtime secretary/housekeeper to Sarah's family.

This film is lovely to look at. Most of the action takes place at the mansion where Sarah grew up and has now returned to live as a newlywed. Both Sela and Morgan are elegantly dressed--although Morgan's clothing is always flashier, where Sela's is more understated and everyday elegant. And don't get me started on Michael Woods again--the man is a hunk:)

The problems with this film begin in about the last half-hour to 45 minutes. It seems as though the directors took too much time setting things up, and then had to race to the finish, leaving out some things in the process. At the end of the film, you realize that there are two main characters who simply vanished from the storyline--and this would have been out of character for them, given the established plot. This is a real problem in the final scene, when it's implied that the previous scene happened early in the day and now it's night-time. The character who does not show up in the last scene would have definitely had time to get there and possibly change the outcome. Hello? What happened? Is there something we didn't see on the cutting room floor?

Like the reviewer below, I think we either need a sequel or to have this one re-released with the Director's cut. But I would watch that first half-hour or so again just to watch Sela Ward and Michael Woods in the wedding and newlywed scenes. Someone give that man a show of his own!!

*****POSSIBLE SPOILERS******

Like many of the other reviewers here, I saw this one when I was very young--right after second grade, I think. By the time it came to the theater in my little rural hometown a year after its release, Julie Andrews had already won an Oscar for her work as the title character. Not that that mattered. To the kids in my class at school, this was the hot, must-see movie of that summer--the way "Star Wars" would be in the next decade. I can still remember laughing over Dick Van Dyke tap-dancing with the penguins and crying during the "Bird Woman" song (which was as much social commentary as a sentimental tune about our feathered friends). I became a fan of Dick Van Dyke's show after this--he basically won my heart as Bert--the jack-of-all-trades special friend to Mary and the Banks' children. For the rest of that summer, man, I WAS Mary Poppins. My mom bought me a record of all the songs, I used her old Avon sample case as my carpetbag, and I acted out the movie every day. If VCRs and DVDs had been everyday household items then, I would have asked for "Mary Poppins" for Christmas. (It would have been worn out by Easter, most likely!)

As happens to children almost overnight, my interests changed over the next year and I sort of got over my fixation with Mary, Bert, et. al. After all, Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke went on to other things after that, so why not me?

And then in the 90s, Disney re-released "Mary Poppins" as a video. I bought it for my daughter (or at least that was the excuse I gave my husband). Though she was too young to understand everything in the movie--just as I was the first time I saw it--she, too, loved "Mary Poppity" as she called it. We must have played it at least 3 times a week during the first summer we had it, while living in temporary housing and waiting for our house to be built. She, too, loves to act this one out and to sing the songs for hours on end. The apple does not fall far from the tree, I guess.

As for me. . .it's all I remembered it to be, and then some. For starters, the music. . .what was missing from the old record I had were the overture, underscores, and closing score--they were beautifully put together. And the little details are delightful, too. Among them: Mrs. Banks, who is a feminist (at least when Mr. Banks isn't around) wears bloomers--and later in the movie, we discover Mary Poppins does, too. (don't blink, or you'll miss seeing them) The relationship between Mary and Bert. . .as a child I thought they were probably a couple but never had time to see each other because of their work. Now? I think they would be a couple if they got a lucky break. Let's face it--she's a nanny and he's a lower-level tradesman. Even if they did get married, in 1910, the realities of British society were such that if you weren't part of the gentry, you worked for a living, and changing your "class" or status didn't happen. A shame, because their characters obviously love children very much. So they do the next best thing--work together as a team to bring happiness to British middle-class homes--mainly by shaking up the parents. Mary was no ordinary nanny, but Bert made her an even better one--he was the idea man, and she handled the implementation.

And therein is the secret: this movie was not as much about Mary, Bert, and the kids as it is about Mary, Bert, and Mr. and Mrs. Banks. It's when Mr. Banks realizes that his children don't need a nanny to be happy--they just need their parents to love them and give them their attention--that he also becomes the man that the Bank needs. The scene between Bert and Mr. Banks at the house is one of the best in the movie.

As for the ending? When I was a child, I didn't understand it. Now, as an adult, I do. The mission was accomplished, and it was time to move on. As one of the main characters said, all was as it should be.

So is this movie. Enjoy it with your own daughter. . .

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** The USA Network re-runs this one along with the sequel every few months or so on Friday or Saturday night. Tim Matheson is one of the handsomest men in Hollywood--and he just gets better looking with age. But here he is, stuck with a wife he's crazy about who doesn't love or appreciate him. She's having an affair with the county coroner, and they plot to kill him. Well. . .I don't know where this guy went to med school, but it's obvious he flunked his toxicology class. When they go to poison Tim, he's only in a deep sleep. The real fun of this flick is watching what happens after he gets out of the grave and goes back to his house. (The house is a beautiful one, by the way--some of the prettiest architecture and decor this side of Steve Martin's "Housesitter")

Yes, the lines they are given are corny and silly sometimes, but Tim Matheson comes across as a guy you've just gotta root for. And Jennifer Jason Leigh makes a great villain here--I boo and hiss every time she's on screen. Even though I've seen it several times now--usually when I can't get to sleep--the last scenes still creep me out a bit.

If you like the genre, catch this one next time it's on USA.