Hanksgiving, Vol. 4: Saving Mr. Banks

0:00 Today on the Film and Whiskey Podcast, it is Hanks giving Thanksgiving. We're looking at the life and career of our favorite actor of all time not named Cruz I. Was about to say with the 2013 film Saving Mr. Banks. This is the Film and Whiskey Podcast.

0:40 Welcome to the Film and Whiskey Podcast, where each week we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad G and things already feel off today. Brad, I don't think I've ever said this is. You haven't. How do I feel? I feel I feel naked. I don't know. I don't like it do. You Do you feel ashamed, though I do. I feel like hiding now. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I wasn't going to say anything, but it was a little subpar and especially on such a special day as Thanksgiving. I know, man. I. I think our audience deserves better, Bob. Oh, it was so tentative because I didn't know if I should. It felt it felt forbidden, you know. Well, folks, after that shaky start, welcome to Hanksgiving.

1:23 Thanksgiving, baby. The most beautiful day of the year is this Hanksgiving 4 or Hanksgiving 5? Brad Bob, this is Hanksgiving #4. Wow, I for some reason I feel like Hanksgiving was a recent invention, but I think we did it in our second year of the podcast. We we started Hanksgiving back when the pilgrims did. Yes. It's not, this is not recent at all, man. I really like this bonus episode that we do every year on Thanksgiving, watching one film from the career of Tom Hanks, because it gives us a little bit of an opportunity A to talk about, you know, America's dad, Tom Hanks, but also to look at some films that may not make our regular list of 32 movies.

2:05 You know, we're trying to knock out some stone cold classics of cinema and like, you know, Big is a great movie, but like, is it a Top 100? Probably not The Terminal, a movie that I like. But you know, let's be honest here, folks like this is not on the sight and sound list. And so today we're looking at perhaps like the perfect Tom Hanks movie to look at on Hanks Giving, and it is 2013's Saving Mr. Banks. Bob, this movie wrecked my soul, man. I was not expecting what I got. I'll tell you what. So I will say this, first of all, for saving Mr. Banks, it is very effective at what it tries to do. It is manipulative.

2:48 And I I I don't like that about it. But Dang it, it works. I went to see this movie at a midnight premiere, Brad, you know, as as you do when you line up for midnight premieres because my wife's favorite movie of all time is Mary Poppins. And so we knew this movie was coming out and we were, you know, engaged and childless at the time. And so we had plenty of free time and energy to stay up late, and we went to see this movie The very first opportunity we could Thursday night at midnight. And it's a good movie, Brad. I don't know if I would nowadays go see it at midnight, but like, I I feel like my history with this movie is I saw it at the earliest possible convenience that anyone on Earth could have seen it. So I go back a long way with this movie. You sure do, Bob.

3:37 I for me, I am as far on the opposite side as you can get. I knew. That Walt Disney was was a character in this film. I had zero idea that this was even about Mary Poppins. Like it. What do you think it was about? I have no idea. I like. I was like doing stuff. It was, yeah, you know, you see the Netflix preview for like 3 seconds as you're like. Scrolling through, you know this is back before Disney Plus I'm pretty sure it was on Netflix and so you you see like a four second preview and I saw a woman walking with Walt Disney and and it looked pleasant and I just figured it was kind of a a schmoozy biopic about Walt Disney. No it's not.

4:23 So to your point, this is, this is what I was going to say when I got off on my tangent about midnight screenings. But every time I return to this movie, and this is probably like my, I don't know, my 4th time seeing it, maybe fifth time seeing it, I always remember it being like a golden hued, you know, touchy, feely uplifting movie that would be perfect for Thanksgiving. And then I watch it and I'm like, this is a deeply sad film. Like, like it ends on a positive note. But even the positive note is like, tinged with it gets pretty dark, man. You know, like, and and so I come out of it wondering, like, I I almost feel like we should evaluate it. A, on the Hanks side of things, like how does this work as a Hanks movie? But B, does this actually work as a Thanksgiving movie? Because like I I thought, oh, this would be a great one to throw on with your family.

5:13 And then after watching it, I'm like, yeah, I don't know, man, like. I mean, I know that Walt Disney was thankful for all the money that he made off of Mary Poppins. So 100% multiple Times Now. Yeah, many times over. There's also the fact that we can all be thankful for Colin Farrell as just. A stellar actor. I really love Colin Farrell and I'm so glad that things have come back around for him. Yeah, he spent so many years toiling away in in indie films and taking smaller roles like this before, you know, the banshees of Ennis. Sheeran has put him back on the top of the mountain and I am. I'm so glad for him. I don't know if I can ever watch that movie again, but man, I really want to watch that movie so good.

5:55 Even Brendan Gleeson are are like. Probably one of the best duos in a film I've ever seen. Well, if you can tell how much we like saving Mr. Banks, we're already talking about other movies instead. I do have to reiterate, I like this movie, Brad. I think it's a well made film. I have many complicated thoughts on it though. But before we get into talking about that, I think it's time that we throw over to, Brad explains. Brad's going to give us the movie plots with only 60 seconds ticking on the clock, so let's go ahead and hear your take with this little segment that we call. Brad explains. Now because this is a Hanksgiving episode and not a full regular episode, Brad, I almost want to implement a 30 second time limit. But let's just let's just say like. I mean, you already started, started us off today. This should be just a Bob explains concisely as possible. Brad, can you spoil this movie and fill our listeners in on the plot of Saving Mr. Banks?

6:53 I sure can. Bob Saving Mr. Banks is a film about PL. Travers, a author in the 1960s who wrote the wildly popular Mary Poppins series. She has a terrifically, horrifyingly sad childhood. With an alcoholic father and a overwhelmed mother that sets her on the trajectory to writing Mary Poppins because her mother's sister comes and is essentially Mary Poppins in her life. The latter half of the film is about her and Walt Disney's relationship and how she bitterly tries to derail his project to bring Mary Poppins to life. The end.

7:36 I I mean, did you see anything else in the movie? No, no. Like some? Hidden hidden scenes that I didn't see. All right. So I'm trying to decide how to approach this movie, Brad. Because again, this is Hanksgiving. We're here to talk about Tom Hanks and Turkey. I mean and. You could approach it from the Tom Hanks, Walt Disney side of things and just be bright and optimistic, sure. Or you could approach it from the Colin Farrell side of things and just drink as much alcohol as you can. It really does fit with the theme of our show, doesn't it? It sure does. All right, so let's start with Hanks. I want to start with Emma Thompson because she is clearly the lead of this movie. This might be the first. I guess it is the first supporting Hanks performance that we've done for Hanks Giving. Right.

8:19 Yeah. And I, as I said before, I did not know that when I picked this, Yeah, it's interesting. I thought that this was a Tom Hanks movie. Yeah, I mean, it is a Tom Hanks movie. I feel like this movie doesn't really get made if you don't have someone like Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. And I think that's a good place to start, Brad. Because aside from the performance itself, which we can talk about, the fact that Disney makes this movie right, like they have complete control of how the movie gets made and how they depict Walt Disney. There are just tons and tons of historical inaccuracies like the actual the actual trip from PL. Travers to California. Walt Disney went on vacation for most of it, so that he didn't have to deal with her like they they truly hated each other. They never had a good relationship. She never liked the final movie of Mary Poppins. Like, everything's made-up.

9:05 Everything's controlled by the Disney corporation. But there's something about Disney. I guess the most insidious thing about it is that Disney is leveraging the Tom Hanks persona. Because by casting Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, you're automatically smoothing over any rough edges that this person could have had, right? Like, whatever actual problems he may have, whatever personality flaws he might have, the audience is ultimately always going to come out on his side. Because he's Tom Hanks, right? Like you're always you're always viewing him as ultimately the good guy here. And as you know at Peel, Travers is the one who has to change because of course, Tom Hanks wouldn't have to change. When it also doesn't help that like six years later, he plays, you know, Mr. Rogers.

9:52 Yes. And so now if you watch Saving Mr. Banks, there's moments where Walt is talking to like, his staff or to to Pamela. And 100%, I'm like, Oh no, that there's Mr. Rogers. He's not waltz anymore. He's just comforting her. What a nice guy. Yeah, this was the beginning of his tour to play every respected figure like it's going to be like Walter Cronkite next. Like, it's got to be somebody else that's trusted by all of America. He's just going to be commenting on Vietnam for like 2 1/2 hours straight. Here's the thing, man. I feel like this movie kind of falls into the vein of a kind of like an Aaron Sorkin Social Network type of movie where. It's not accurate to what happened in real life, but it tells a compelling story and I think I'm kind of OK with it because of that.

10:53 And and it's such an interesting, like meta commentary on itself though. Like the Disney corporation took this woman's book, took the source material and changed it to their liking to make the Mary Poppins movie and ultimately said like, look, we did it like we made a great movie out of it. And then they made a movie about the making of that movie where they completely changed the source material and they were like, doesn't matter, we're going to make a great movie out of it. It's like, well, I guess you know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Like keep using that formula, Disney. Yeah, well, and there is absolutely no love lost between Disney and I here. I think Disney is a shisty organization that does shisty things constantly with with their IPS, with their characters, with their movies.

11:40 But I will give them credit, man. I really liked this film. I did too. Like at the end of the day, here's the thing about this movie. It's like the script for this movie is like the the epitome of a 6 1/2 out of 10 script. It's like a 2.5 stars out of four script and then they just stacked the cast with legitimate Hollywood A listers. And then even the most supporting roles are like seasoned veteran. Paul Giamatti. Yeah, right. That's what I'm saying. Like, but even below that, like the lady that plays Disney's secretary, her name's Kathy Baker. I feel like we've had her in a movie or two before. I mean, she's like a well known character actress and she's playing the 12th lead of the movie, you know what I mean?

12:25 Yeah, yeah. And. And you have, like Paul Giamatti playing a Mickey Mouse character. There's just so much going on here that fits. To elevate this script beyond what it should be. Well, OK, let's go ahead and do this, 'cause I I want to talk Hanks, I want to talk the movie itself, but let's kind of knock out all of the other actors in the movie. And I guess we've already talked about Colin Farrell. Let's kind of go down the supporting cast list here. Giamatti is really, really great in this movie and I just went and saw a movie with him in it the other day called The Holdovers, which if I can just plug a Thanksgiving movie, folks, go see The Holdovers.

13:05 It is like the perfect old school. Take your family to the movies on Christmas or Thanksgiving movie. It's so freaking good. But seeing him just the other day in that movie and then seeing him here, I'm reminded of like just how great his range is because he's playing the most, like, optimistic, sincere, authentic person ever. He's like a puppy dog in human form in this movie. And it's it's believable because it's Paul Giamatti. Like you've got an Academy Award nominated guy playing the 7th lead of this movie and he's not even a real person. Like this character is just made-up. And of course they make up the character that has the most compelling back story, right?

13:49 Like the handicapped daughter and like. But Giamatti once again, like he, takes the source material and and absolutely elevates it. Yeah, he he really does. The line that killed me with him is when Travers is talking about how the rain brings life and he just looks at her and he goes, yeah, but the sun does too. And it's just so. Optimistic. It's It was so optimistic. But here's what sells it 95% of actors would deliver that line way too bright and sunny. And Giamatti does it with a sadness that this movie doesn't deserve, where you can tell that he has been through some garbage in his life.

14:35 And he is still choosing to believe that the sun brings life and and it's all conveyed with this, this tonality of his voice and this look in his eye. And I'm like, why did they pay Giamatti like, you know, probably like 5 million, four million to to be this? To deliver that line perfectly. That's why I do love the moment, like towards the end where he drops her off at the airport and she says you're the only American I've ever liked and he goes up. Well, can I ask why she goes? No. Of course. And they cut back. And he's like, all right, cool. It's just a great reaction. I'll take what I can get. You've got BJ Novak and Jason Schwartzman as the Sherman Brothers, and there's a great documentary on Disney Plus about the Sherman Brothers and all the songs they wrote for all the Disney movies.

15:23 I I really love them in this movie. I feel like they definitely make them more simplistic as people than they need to be, but they serve the purpose of the film. You know, BJ Novak is the guy who doesn't like Travers, and then you've got Jason Schwartzman as the one who's more sympathetic. And again, for having these big name actors playing these tiny, tiny roles, I think Schwartzman is responsible for my favorite scene in the whole movie, which is when he does Feed the birds and he just plays it for Tom Hanks. And Hanks gets that great line, because Feed the Birds is famously Walt Disney's favorite song that was ever written by the Shermans, and he's playing it for Disney for the first time. And he he finishes it and it's a real tearjerker. And Hanks just goes, Yep, that'll work.

16:06 And then they move on to the next thing. And I just. I love that scene so much, man. I personally love the scene when BJ Novak is walking around with his cane. You mean every, every scene? With DJ, the first time when Travers sees him and she goes, what's wrong with him? The I think it's the secretary goes, oh, he was shot in the leg. And she she basically goes like, why do you go and do a thing like that? You have to make her the most British, British person, right? Oh, just the worst. Like I think I texted you like. 20 minutes into the movie was like, well, I understand why I had the take I did on on Mary Poppins when we reviewed that. OK, just a few more supporting characters. I don't even know that we really need to talk about them in depth, but like, you've got Bradley Whitford alongside the Sherman brothers kind of helping to coax Travers into accepting this whole movie.

17:02 I think Bradley Whitford is one of those guys that you're always like, Oh yeah, he was in this too, Yep. And he's great in everything. Yeah, Yep. I really like the the Mary Poppins stand in. What's her name? Rachel Griffiths. I think she was on 6 Feet under. I like the mom, you know, for that Colin Farrell's wife in the movie. I just, it's crazy how many people they got to be in this movie, Brad, because as I think about the type of movie this is, this is the type of movie that nowadays Disney would make this movie and release it exclusively on Disney. Plus, it would not get a theatrical run. They would not be making a big Oscar push push for it for anybody except maybe Hanks. And the fact that this movie comes out and makes I I think a couple $100 million at the box office just ten years ago, it really is an example of how much the industry has changed really, really rapidly.

17:55 Yeah, the This movie definitely feels like a relic of the majority of film history that no longer exists and we should just burn it all down. Bob. I love it, man. I'm thankful. This is what I love on Thanksgiving talking about burning down the establishment. Yeah. All right, man. What do you see? We take a break here. We'll come back after the break and we'll talk a little bit about Tom Hanks and our overall thoughts on this movie. What do you say? Let's get to it. All right, we're back talking about saving Mr. Banks. Brad, we're not drinking a whiskey today, at least not for review. But I do have one poured out here and our our operative thing today was pour yourself a whiskey for this recording that you are thankful for. What's your whiskey today, man?

18:44 Bob, I have poured out in front of me amroot fusion because by golly, this is the best thing I think I've drank all year. Especially in terms of being surprised, like like when I looked up amroot fusion, I was like, oh, Indian whiskey. I didn't know they made Indian whiskey. And I drank it and I said I didn't know India made whiskey better than almost every other country in the world. Surprise, surprise. Yeah, man, in front of me is an old standby. And it's funny because, you know, we talk about certain whiskeys all the time on this podcast that that really stuck in our brains. But that doesn't mean I drink them all the time.

19:26 And about, oh, I'd say 3 weeks ago I was. I was feeling like a single malt. I didn't really know what to pull down off my shelf. And I was like, you know what I haven't had in a long time? Glenmorangie Quinta Ruben, 14. Dude, dude, let's freaking go. And I tried it. I tried it again. And I was like, Oh my gosh, like I have hyped this to death for seven seasons of this podcast and it still delivers every single time I drink it for a $50 whiskey like you, just you will never get a better $50 whiskey than this. Brad. Yeah, no dude, I I had it again. I think I finally bought myself a bottle. Just I was like, you know what, I'm buying a bottle and I drink it again and I was like, I might have come down a point or two from my first appraisal, but by golly, man, for $50.00, I think it might be like around 55 nowadays in Ohio.

20:21 You it is so so good. Well, we are thankful for Amrut Fusion and Glenmore and G Quinta Ruben and Tom Hanks I. Give a I give an honorable mention in the whiskey category. Please do. I was having a steak the other week and I drank Lagavulin 16 with it. You are a big Lagavulin guy. You really love that stuff, man it. Is incredible and I and I have to say for anybody out there who cannot approach the peated scotches, drink them with a steak. There is something about the savouriness of the meat that I thought that that log of 1/16 was like rich and and caramel Y and almost like cheesecake richness and sweetness.

21:10 It was truly incredible. And I think I'm after, you know, like 4 years of drinking whiskey. Seriously, I think I'm going to start being more specific about drinking whiskey with foods as opposed to on an empty stomach. As opposed to on an empty stomach at 8:00 AM recording with my best friend. That's right. You know, I know you how much you like Lagavulin because, like you, unprompted sent me a text about it. It is so hard to pin you down via text. I'll be like, texting you about important things of scheduling. No response. And then out of nowhere, I just get Lagavulin 16 is so rich and creamy when you drink it with a nice medium steak. And it was. It was like a response to you saying like.

21:50 Brad, I'm in the hospital, My wife is in a different hospital. My children, I don't even know where they are. And I'm like, dude, lagable in 16. Incredible. All right, let's get back into talking about this Hanks giving movie and it's time to talk about the man himself. I think this is a really good performance. I also think this is, I would like pinpoint this as the performance where Hanks, oh I'm going to tread lightly here, where Hanks stops trying to be the best possible actor and starts trying to use the Tom Hanks aura in every movie he makes. And I feel like every movie since this has been like it's not Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers, it's Tom Hanks as Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers. Like he can't shed the Tom Hanks Ness of it all. And like, is this a great imitation of Walt Disney? Nope.

22:47 And he knows that. And that's the thing when you get that scene when he's sitting down with Travers at the end of the movie and talking about when I was 8 years old, my old man beat me with a belt and it's like, oh, this is horrible. It's also like, very clearly his Oscar moment, like this is going to be his Oscar highlight. And it works. It's not a good impersonation. It's a good performance. And Tom Hanks knows I can just be Tom Hanks. And that is enough to at least get me in the Oscar conversation every year. Yeah, it it is. And he's put in the work to become that beloved. So I'll give him credit where it's due. I think the interesting thing for me is I don't think I've really ever seen many videos of Walt Disney.

23:30 So I I don't have like a great reference point on whether or not this is a good impersonation. You know, like when you look at at biopics, you know, a lot of people would point to like Jamie Foxx as, Ray Charles as like. One of the best imitations of a person and I I just can't honestly say if I know if this is a good one or not. I've seen enough pictures of Walt Disney to know that they, I think they did a really stellar job with his makeup. Agreed to to bring his eyes in a little bit smaller to make his nose look more like waltz. His his mouth felt smaller than it normally is. I noticed it in the scene where they're walking through Disneyland because it's not even the focus of the shot, but like on the side of his head.

24:15 They had added like some age spots to look like the way Walt's skin looked. It was real, like really subtle stuff in the makeup. I'm with you, man. They did a great job making him up. So that that was the one thing for me where I was like, oh, he, I think he looks like Walt Disney. But I am with you in that a lot of the little mannerisms and and the nuances of his voice and the tone that he uses, I was like, Oh yeah, it's, it's Tom Hanks doing his like warm and fuzzy. You know, I I'm the king of the world. Like I I want to want to bring people into this nice place called Disneyland. And it was good. It was charming. It was. It was warm and fuzzy. I mean, I think that he also clearly, like he knows his limitations enough to as an actor that like he's never going to be Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice. Like, he's never going to be the most believably like Polish person.

25:08 Do you know what I mean? Where is, like, you can watch Meryl Streep in that movie and be like, I'm not watching an actress, I'm watching a real person. She's so good. Yeah, but he's like. Compare it for me then to the terminal. OK, well, he's not playing a specific person, but yeah, well, and I I was going to compare it to the Mr. Rogers performance because I think they're like the same. I think he took the same mindset of like it's it's meant to evoke Mr. Rogers, it's meant to evoke Walt Disney. It's not meant to be an impersonation, and I appreciate that so much more than if he had tried to like get every mannerism down and be like Daniel Day Lewis, like doing Lincoln, you know what I mean? Like there's a slightly Midwestern sounding wilt to his voice and so there's like some cadence things and some inflection things.

25:53 But overall, it's just Tom Hanks with a little bit of an an accent. And I'm cool with that. And I think that that's like, that's where he's at as an actor now. He's like, I'm not going to disappear into a role. I'm going to be Tom Hanks with a tinge of this guy. And I honestly think that's probably the best choice. Well, and opposite of him you have Emma Thompson, and we haven't talked about her at all. I think that she does an incredible job with the script that she's been given. Oh, she's excellent in this movie, man. Like, she and and what I noticed about her too is like the moments where her performance really shines is in between all the lines of the script. Like that scene where she's just listening to Tom Hanks talk about his childhood. And, you know, he finally kind of turns the tables and says, I know that you took your dad's name. You know, I know that this isn't that Mary Poppins didn't come to Save the Children.

26:46 She came to save the father and it's your father and like watching her start to tear up and and feel upset at being found out but feeling ashamed and feel like all these emotions crawling across her face. She is just so, so good in this movie. In those areas where the script is kind of bare bones, she fills in the blanks really well. Where where the script gets out of the way. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, and I I think that that's what I appreciated most about the acting in this movie was the fact. That I think that Hanks and Thompson have great chemistry and I think that they elevate this movie beyond what anyone else could have done.

27:28 And it's because as much as you know, you talked to the start about how in real life Disney absolutely just despised Travers, you get just enough of that conflict that by the end of the film you are still not convinced that. Disney likes Travers at all. I like you. You definitely get the vibe that he is not on team team Pamela by the end of it, and that he has been putting on this persona as a businessman throughout. And I think that that is a a little teeny, tiny bit of honest self reflection from Disney on their founder. I would have really liked to see the version of this movie that is more of like the Social Network version where, yeah, Disney just ends up being the villain and not like a straight villain but like a more complicated figure, You know, in real life.

28:20 She was so stubborn about it that like, even at the premiere of the movie, she walked up to him afterwards and said, like, you have to cut the Penguin scene, you have to cut this. And he just looked at her and said Missus Travers, the ship has sailed and walked away. And I'm like, that would be really cool because that would make the emotional punch of like she has turned over her baby to this man and he just did what he wanted with it. Like, I want to see that movie. Yeah. Now the movie we got is really good and warm and fuzzy and hopeful. But like, I kind of want to watch the more realistic version. I I just want to see your version where there's a after credits scene of Walt Disney sitting in in front of like a giant like desk and he's just like lining up all of his royalty checks.

29:07 Like you're, you know, whatever the the theaters pay him to the movie in it, just lining up check after check after check on this giant desk and he's just laughing as the flames rise around him. Yes. So Tom Hanks not nominated for this movie. And this was a big shock at the time because he made two movies this year, saving Mr. Banks and Captain Phillips, which is also a great movie. And word around town in Hollywood was that he was campaigning hard to get nominations in both lead performance and supporting performance categories. And now this has happened on a number of occasions. Kate Winslet did it back in 2008. I think at least at the Golden Globes, she won both awards and they were like, Oh my gosh, she's going to do it. The Academy Awards does not like doing that. I think the last time, the most recent time that happened I think was Scar Jo.

30:01 She she was nominated for Marriage Story and JoJo Rabbit in the same year in different categories. And then Tom Hanks doesn't get nominated for either category, which is freaking crazy because they think these are two of his best performances of this century for sure. Like it's Have you seen Captain Phillips? I have not. Oh dude. Oh man, you gotta watch that. Thanksgiving Year 5 Thanksgiving What's what? What's Thanksgiving without a little hostage situation? That's what I'm talking about. So when you hear the news that Tom Hanks not nominated, does it surprise you or is it kind of like, yeah, I can see why he wasn't nominated? Like where do you land on this? I think he just didn't have quite big enough of a role in this film to land as even as supporting actor cause and maybe this comes back to what you said earlier.

30:51 There are so many great supporting actors in this movie. I think Colin Farrell could have been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor in this film. So there there were enough other performances that were really solid that I don't know if Hanks really deserved A nomination here. Let's see Supporting Actor 2014 awards. We had Jared Leto winning for Dallas Buyers Club. Obviously Barkhad Abdi from Captain Phillips. So the the guy that plays like the lead hijacker in that movie, Bradley Cooper in American Hustle, Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave, and Jonah Hill and Wolf of Wall Street. Now like, I think Hanks probably could have been in one of those five positions, but like, I actually don't hate this category. This is a pretty good lineup of supporting roles. I was going to say Bradley Cooper in American Hustle is really solid.

31:43 What? What was the final one you said Jonah Hill in Wolf of Wall Street? Yeah, Jonah Hill was incredible. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, this is a tough line up to crack for him this year. Wolf of Wall Street Thanksgiving number six you want to do? Obviously. Obviously, I don't think Tom Hanks would ever come near a movie like that. Oh, my gosh, man. All right, let's wrap, Let's wrap things up. I want to get to my Thanksgiving meal at some point. Brad, I hope people are listening to this as they, you know, trim their Turkey and everything else. So, all right, so let's let's score this movie out as a movie, Let's score it out as a Tom Hanks movie and let's score it out as a Thanksgiving movie. And let's start with the Thanksgiving aspect. Is this a good movie for Thanksgiving, Brad. Yes.

32:29 Spicy take. So here's the thing about this film, and I'll kind of get here with, like, my final score. I think that what sells me on this movie is literally nothing that we talked about so far. All the things we've talked about, you know, are solid parts of the film. But the messaging of the movie is what really, like captured my attention. And it's this idea that as we engage in imagination, as we engage in storytelling, it can heal the UN viewed traumas of our past. That as we've shoved away the bad stuff that's happened to us into the dark corners of our mind, when we revisit those experiences through storytelling and through imagination, there's a genuine healing effect on our soul, on our body, on our mind.

33:21 And that just completely, I I thought that they knocked it out of the park on that forefront of this story that this idea that as she. RE crafts the story of Mary Poppins. It is re crafting her understanding of herself in light of the trauma she's been through. And I I got to, I got to say Bob, I'm thankful for that. I think we need more movies like this. I think the core of this movie is a good Thanksgiving like message. But I also think that if you put this on for your family, like after everyone has eaten stuffing and like, you're going to bump some people out. It's a terrible movie to watch on. That's, that's what I mean here. Like, I don't know that my family would forgive me for being, you know, for making them watch this young girl's mom, Trey, commit suicide in a river and like, you know, not the warm fuzzies that you're looking for. Not quite as a Hanks movie.

34:17 How does this fall for you? I think this is a mid level Hanks movie. I'd put it in like upper middle class if if I was doing it economically. What's your like criteria like as a movie that has Tom Hanks or like as a Hanks movie? I would say as a Hanks movie with with a Hanks performance, you know, kind of rating high there, I'm with you there. Like it's if there's like 4 tiers of Hanks movies, this is like a solid Tier 2 Hanks movie. Yes, you're not putting it on with like Castaway and Saving Kravit, Ryan, but it's it's a good Hanks movie. Yeah, I mean, I I would put it similar to like the the five Hitchcock films that we watched this year.

34:59 You know, they're all B tier Hitchcock films. And then you go and watch, you know, Vertigo and you're like, oh, oh, this is Hitchcock we're talking about. All right. As we get to final scores, I'm going to compare this movie to one of our least favorite movies ever. Brad. Oh, that movie is Bohemian Rhapsody, Because this is how you do Bohemian Rhapsody the right way. Like nothing about this movie that I know is is like realistic. None of this happened in reality. But if you're going to editorialize, make it good. And this movie really with worse actors, I feel like could have been an absolute disaster 'cause it. It teeters on the edge of being overly cheesy the whole film and it teeters on the edge of feeling like when a late night comedy show makes a spoof of, like an Oscar bait movie. You know every year they're like they they they do a spoof of like they were, they were forbidden lovers and but you like it's it seems like one of those movies and yet it's so sincere and so to use your word, Brad Earnest. And it's it's acted in such good faith, like no one's winking at the camera.

36:09 Everyone's taking the material seriously. It elevates this movie way higher than it needs to be. Like I said, this is a 6.5 like across the board that is elevated. Like when I watch it, I'm like oh this must be like an 8 out of 10 movie, you know what I mean? And I think I am going to fall out somewhere in like the 7.5 range on this movie, but it's like it's in the upper tier of 7.5 movies and like on IMDb it's got a 7.5. Everyone on Earth agrees that this movie is a three star movie, and I think that makes it a really good movie. Yeah, I I think it's one that anybody should come back to and revisit. If you haven't seen it, it is well worth your watch. I think I would land at like an 8 1/2 out of 10 here Bob. Wow, dude, I.

36:55 I think it's a 7 1/2 to an 8 movie, but the messaging speaks so directly to me that I just. I really enjoyed this film. Yeah. I have always considered you a curmudgeonly old British person, so like it it does. The messaging is directly spoken to you. Yeah, it fits, man. I'm just angry that anybody would think would Dane to speak to me. Well, Bradley, as we wrap up this Thanksgiving, first of all, I'm thankful for you, man. Happy Thanksgiving to you. Dude, thanks. I appreciate that. You're thankful for me. Yeah, that's what I thought. I knew it set myself up for that one didn't. I You sure did. We are also thankful for you film and Whiskey Nation. We can't thank you guys enough for riding with us on season 7 starting next week.

37:41 Just a reminder, our feed is going to be taken over by our friend Zach Johnston as he does a whiskey tour of America. I cannot wait to check out those episodes, Brad. So we're actually signing off for a few weeks here. I I will not talk to you again purposely until mid-december. Thank the good Lord. All right. So space. So join us for Zach Johnson next week. But until then, I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad G and we'll see you next time.