Finding Neverland

It's London 1903, J.M. Barrie's (Johnny Depp) latest play is a flop. On an idyllic day in the park, he befriends widower Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her four boys. The youngest being Peter (Freddie Highmore). Sylvia's mother Mrs. Emma du Maurier (Julie Christie) disapproves of her independence, and truly disapproves of her friendship with Barrie. JM's wife Mary (Radha Mitchell) isn't much happier. She'd hope to social climb upon Mrs. du Maurier's standings but in the end, she can't take being left out.

This is a wonderfully sweet movie. Sure a lot of it has been changed from the real history. That really doesn't matter in the least bit. I love the dog. I love the beds. I love all that stuff. It's great to see Johnny Depp in a more reserved role. He is more than wacky characters, and has wonderful chemistry with the kids. It's a gentle family movie for everyone.

Finding Neverland is one of the best films I have seen all year. Depp and Winslet are superb and their supporting cast is very strong in particular Julie Christie, Dustin Hoffman and Freddie Highmore. Forster's direction is tight and he maintains a story which had the potential to drag. Depp delivers a performance that is truly believable and he interacts with his co-stars well, in particular, Freddie Highmore who delivers a performance that outshines Depp's. It is a tour de force of acting talent. Clearly Highmore has a great career ahead of him. 9/10 for a superb piece of film-making, made diligently but, unfortunately, up against such strong contention, it had to make do with a disappointing award haul.

I am not a film critic by any means, and don't aim to pose as one. That being said, I felt that this movie was by far one of the most touching and entertaining movies I have seen in my short 22 years. The cast is fabulous, every actor plays his/her part so to speak.

The story centers around J. M. Barrie, creator of Peter Pan, and his journey to writing the well-known play. It highlights his genius, while also showing the painful isolation that comes with being a mind ahead of your time. There are some liberties taken when put against the actual events that led up to the birth of Peter Pan, but don't let this dissuade you from watching--"Finding Neverland" was never slated as being a documentary!

Being a huge Johnny Depp fan, one would think that my judgment would be tainted by his involvement in the film. However, even I can admit to a failed Depp movie (i.e. The Secret Window). At first, I thought that putting Depp outside of his usual character type, a mildly strange pirate/writer/doctor/investigator/man with scissors for hands, might signify a substandard film. Boy was I wrong! He nailed J.M. Barrie and was absolutely captivating throughout the entire film. I hate to sound like a starry-eyed fan but I thought his performance in this movie was downright Oscar-worthy!

Depp is magnificent, but he does not carry the weight of this film on his own. A slue of other fine actors and actresses, Kate Winslet and Freddy Highmore just to name a few, give absolutely divine performances. Do yourself a favor, shell out the eight bucks and go see this movie!

Every holiday season Harvey Weinstein and Miramax talk up one of their properties, fully expecting everyone to bow and throw awards at it as soon as it's released. This year it's Finding Neverland, which has produced a lot of buzz in favor of Johnny Depp's sophisticated performance. Although the film deserves all the praise it gets, it is understandable that moviegoers are a little weary with another dramatic period piece, with another "oscar caliber" cast, about yet another take on Peter Pan.

The bottom line is, this movie is phenomenal. Exploring the major theme of Barrie's play (that of a boy who never grows up), Finding Neverland refrains from condemning grown-ups, but exalts the wild magic one can enjoy as a kid. For James, who had to deal with his family's reticence upon the death of his brother, the real tragedy occurs when a child is forced to grow up too fast.

My favorite idea from this film is this: life finds a way to put into our lives the people we're supposed to be living our lives with. James and Sylvia needed each other, and they needed each other at that particular time. Life took care of them.

The film does indeed move at a snail's pace. Consider that part of the set design. Just as the characters go about 1905 London in top hats and buttoned-down gowns, so does the movie develop in a manner which would have been fitting for a time which preceded MTV-generation attention spans by about a hundred years.

As for the acting, it is wonderful. Depp is understated and gallant, Kate Winslet is lovely and tragic, and they're both better than I've ever seen them. Julie Christie is brutally ominous as the matriarch who can gum up everyone's happiness. Dustin Hoffman, although out of place, brings a dry wit as a risk-taking businessman. The boys playing the Davis kids are a lot of fun to watch and play their dramatic parts perfectly.

If you want something where all the pieces of the magic puzzle that is movie-making come together with grace, charm, and humanity, you won't find a more rewarding film than this.

FINDING NEVERLAND is that rare work of art that transcends the medium of film and becomes a spirit-altering experience. Strong accolades? Gush? Perhaps so, but squeeze time out of the clutter of life and the holidays to see this movie and be transported to a place that nurturingly reassures us that the cycle of life is indeed good. Find Neverland!Marc Forster ('Monster Ball') has created a lovingly tender look at the playwright JM Barrie (Johnny Depp) in 1903 when, down on his luck with theater flops, unfulfilled by a marriage of Victorian standards to a beautiful but aloof and social climbing wife Mary (Radha Mitchell), and with writer's block, he encounters the Llewellyn Davies family - a widow Sylvia (Kate Winslet) and her four boys, George (Nick Roud), Jack (Joe Prospero), Michael (Luke Spill) and Peter (Freddie Highmore) - playing blissfully in Kensington Gardens. Barrie is captivated, draws the boys to him with his patient and infectious enthusiasm for play, and bonds with this family, gaining the obvious seeds for his highest achievement or creation, PETER PAN.How these seeds grow, despite the soft, yet supportive, growling of his producer Charles Frohman (Dustin Hoffman) and the not so soft interference of Sylvia's wealthy haughty mother Madame du Maurier (Julie Christie), form the storyline of this film. The magic comes from the skill of the writers (Alan Knee and David Magee) and director, the cinematographer (never has Victorian London glowed with such elegant gaslight presence), and the musical score by Jan Kaczmarek. Cameo roles are treated with tremendous respect: Eileen Essel as Mrs. Snow, Ian Hart as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Kelly MacDonald as the first Peter Pan, etc all are brief but fully realized and poignant. Given this support it is obvious that the talents of the lead performers will shine, and they glow they do with such understated performances that make the simple story of the sanctity of the inner child so cogent that there is not a dry eye in the house during the thankfully long credits. Johnny Depp continues to prove that he is one of the finest actors on the screen today: his Barrie has a flawless Scottish accent and a manner of movement and facial expressions that make him a gentle hero. Kate Winslet, never more beautiful, likewise embodies Sylvia with exactly the right amount of perk and pathos, and as her mother, Julie Christie is strikingly beautiful and unfailingly solid in a role less than loving. The boys are artfully recreated, never absurdly over the top, always very close to the bridge that crosses the craggy canyon between childhood and adulthood. Growing up has never been better portrayed - by all of the characters!In a time when too often films that address magic and imagination rely on computer effects to create creatures that are comic book absurd, FINDING NEVERLAND relies on simply showing the stage mechanics of the play, suspending wires and all, even in the climax of the story when Barrie brings his successful play to the living room of the ill Sylvia in order to keep his promise to her to take her to Neverland. No gimmicks here, just solid stagecraft very much in keeping with the inherent magic of Barrie's enduring play. This is a brilliant cinematic accomplishment - a feast for the eyes, the ears, the brain, and the soul. Please don't miss it! Grady Harp, November 2004