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captainsblogThis was our second freebie preview screening from the mailing list off attending a Buffalo International Film Festival screening. The first, Philhomena, was dark, powerful and gut-wrenching- but we knew that going in. This film? Supposedly telling the story of the making of Disney's Mary Poppins? It was pitched as a light-hearted tale from theMad Men era, with Mickey Mouse sight gags, Dick van Dyke casting jokes, and Jackie Kennedy pastel outfits.
We lasted all of 90 minutes, as its backstory of P.L. Travers's Aussie upbringing was darker than Dickensian England. Sheesh- people brought their kids- babies- to this preview! Imagine how the alcoholism, multiple firings of her father and her mother's attempted suicide went over with the little tykes. All with the familiar soundtrack of the final film, which we already knew by heart, wrapped around (or even accompanying) the intense scenes of her youth.
It didn't help that we both have to be out of here at relatively redonkulous hours in the morning- and I will henceforth turn down these preview offers if they come on such a Night Before. I'll also do a lot more vetting of the subject matter to ensure that we won't be blindsided again.