Finding Neverland Review
by Jon Popick (jpopick AT sick-boy DOT com)November 1st, 2004
PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com
"We Put the SIN in Cinema"
© Copyright 2004 Planet Sick-Boy. All Rights Reserved.
A rare example of obvious Oscar bait that still manages to grab you and charm you into a trance, Finding Neverland tells the "inspired by actual events" (code for "mostly made up") story of writer J.M. Barrie cooking up the idea for Peter Pan. The highlight in the Marc Forster (Monster's Ball) film is, of course, Johnny Depp, who fills the role of Barrie with the fragile spirit of a man-child who refuses to grow up and doesn't look much older than when he played Tom Hanson on 21 Jump Street.
Neverland is set in 1903 London, where Barrie's latest production goes over like Surviving Christmas. In a gloomy, self-deprecating mood, Barrie takes his faithful Newfoundland, Porthos, to the park, where he meets and immediately falls for four children (names: Peter, Michael, John and George) and their widowed mother, Sylvia (Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). This doesn't sit well with Barrie's wife (Radha Mitchell, Man on Fire), or Sylvia's mum (Julie Christie, Troy), who are both afraid of the affect the unusual relationship might have on their social standing.
Barrie forms the closest bond with the initially standoff-ish Peter (Freddie Highmore), who hasn't been quite the same since his dad died. But before long, Barrie has the boy playing cowboys and Indians, and concocting intricate backyard productions involving pirates. As Neverland hurtles towards its finale, their relationship is strained by both the persistent thwarting of Christie's crusty character and Sylvia's persistent second act cough (those just never go well).
While I enjoyed Neverland and was completely choked up at the end, I still can't help but wonder who this film was made for. It's rated PG (so you don 't get to see Winslet's self-described "floppy dog ear breasts"), but I don' t think Neverland is the kind of picture you're going to want to drag your kids to see. They'll be bored because the Pan references are vague and/or fleeting. And I think an unhealthy number of adults couldn't care less about how an alleged pedophile came up with the idea for story about faeries and a one-armed man chasing little orphan boys around. That leaves a rather small viewership, and is probably one of the reasons Neverland has been shelved for so long (it was shot in mid-2002, but needed to distance itself from last year's box office dud Peter Pan).
Too bad for those who take a pass on Neverland. They'll miss another he-makes-it-look-so-effortless performance from Depp, who wields a very passable but not at all over-the-top Scottish accent (in other words, not Shrek). Highmore holds his own opposite Depp, which is probably how he wound up cast as the new Charlie Bucket in the upcoming Depp-led remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
More on 'Finding Neverland'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
