Finding Neverland (2004)

Creeps predictably along

As much as I wanted to like it, I found this movie bland and boring. Winslet is wasted, Depp mumbles along, and Dustin Hoffman phones his performance in. The boys didn't convince me either. The direction was flat-footed and had none of the wonder I was hoping for, given the subject matter. The music score is soppy and cliched, and the whole thing is shot like a Hallmark holiday TV special. A good idea for a movie that telegraphs its eventual resolutions about 20 minutes into the film; after that there's little point in watching. I kept waiting for some twist, some insight into their conditions, some surprise, but got none. I have no problem with "slow," quiet movies a la Horton Foote, but they have to have some inner life that makes them special. This is very straight-forward, obvious drama, told with a lot of self-importance.

June 27, 2008

Tough Love....

2004's "Finding Neverland" is a gentle dramatization of the playwright James Barrie's relationship with a widow and her four young sons, out of which will be born the timeless classic story of Peter Pan. The movie successfully walks a challenging tightrope between comedy and tragedy, as childhood clashes with adult realities.

Johnny Depp is pitch-perfect as James M. Barrie, a imaginative Scottish writer with a failed play and an unraveling marriage on his hands. Walking his dog in a London Park, he encounters the four adventurous children of recently widowed Sylvia Llewlyn Davies (Kate Winslet). His efforts to entertain the children are gratefully welcomed by an overstretched Sylvia. Putting on fantasy games involving dancing bears, pirates and indians for the boys seems to recharge Barrie's own creative batteries.

Barrie spends increasing time with Sylvia and the boys, in the process scandalizing the local gossips, pushing his already unhappy wife (Radha Mitchell) to the edge, and bringing down the wrath of Sylvia's suspicious mother (Julie Christie). His theater producer (Dustin Hoffman in a comically crusty turn) is openly skeptical that Barrie's new play, about a boy who refuses to grow up, will attract an audience. To complicate the situation, Barrie's efforts to bring off the play begin to collide with Sylvia's mysteriously deteriorating health. The stage is set for a very dramatic and emotional opening night.

In spite of the attractive fantasy elements of the story, this is a tough love movie. Barrie, thrust into the role of de facto father, must teach the children the realities of the adult world without prematurely destroying their childhood. Barrie and Sylvia walk a delicate line, balancing their shared concern for the children and their respective needs for emotional support, against the lack of any socially sanctioned basis for their relationship. Barrie must also deal forthrightly with his failures in his own marriage.

"Finding Neverland" is a small window into the theater world of 1903, where "Peter Pan" was a remarkably innovative production. The rehearsals for the play provide comic relief, while its opening night brings together multiple plots threads. "Finding Neverland" is very highly recommended as a entertaining movie, especially for those with their own childhood memories of Peter Pan. June 8, 2008

Was expecting a love story

This movie is sort of depressing but it was well written and had great scenery though I felt unsatisfied with having watched it. Maybe because it wasn't what I expected and because the characters future was left uncertain.
May 20, 2008

Finding Neverland

This is a great romantic drama, with some comedy, set in 1903 where a playwrite is trying to write a successful play. He comes upon a family with a mother and four boys who have been through some trying times and, through their daily interactions, he begins to write the greatest play of his life - Peter Pan - based on the activities of the boys. His main obstacle in the process is to bring young Peter (Freddie Highmore) from an adult's life back to a kid's life and convince him that he can use his imagination and have fun again. This movie does what a movie should do - it gets you wrapped up in the lives of the caracters and puts you right in the middle of the story line. I highly recommend this movie to anyone. April 16, 2008

Fantasy vs. Reality: sad, but Fascinating film

Finding Neverland (not Michael's place) is an interesting journey. As always, Johnny Depp is perfect. However this movie is not all fun and games, and refusal to grow up. A sadness lurks in the shadows, and leaves me wanting to watch Hook, again to liven things up.

Great movie, but contains drama as well as humor. You may teer up a bit, though the laughs prevail. March 22, 2008

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