Finding Neverland Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)November 13th, 2004
FINDING NEVERLAND
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Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie (Johnny Depp) goes to work one day in London's Kensington Gardens and meets the Llewelyn Davies boys, a quartet that will provide much needed inspiration and become a life long commitment. The married Barrie's friendship with their widowed mother Sylvia (Kate Winslet) causes gossiping tongues to wag and his rocky marriage to flounder, but James persists in leading his adopted family into "Finding Neverland."
Director Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball," "Everything Put Together") throws aside the steamy modernity of "Monster's Ball" for an unrequited Edwardian love story which, ironically, was held from release at the end of 2003 so as not to be confused with P.J. Hogan's more erotic children's movie, "Peter Pan." This charming and heartbreaking tale explores the importance of childhood belief in magic far more successfully than its opening week competition, "The Polar Express."
After trying, and failing, to entice his wife Mary (Radha Mitchell, "Man on Fire," "Everything Put Together") out for a walk, Sir James instead finds a playmate beneath his park bench. Michael (Luke Spill) is a young boy who says he's been imprisoned by the evil Prince George, in actuality his older brother (Nick Roud). Soon Barrie is delighting the Llewelyn Davies family by dancing with Wolfie, his Newfoundland dog - that is delighting all but one. Peter (Freddie Highmore, "Two Brothers"), the second eldest of the boys, doesn't believe that Wolfie is a dancing bear, instead 'just a dog.'
Sir James is determined to help the serious boy get over the grief of losing his father and reawaken to the wonders of childhood.
David Magee's adaptation of Allan Knee's stage play "The Man Who Was Peter Pan" has a wonderful duality that Forster exploits to great effect. As Barrie has adventures with the boys, he is also shaping his play with American theatrical producer Charles Frohman (Dustin Hoffman, in his second thoroughly unaffected supporting performance of the year). The play within the play finds Barrie dressed as a pirate (shades of the Captain Jack!) cavorting with boys transformed into cowboys and Indians. Forster crosscuts between Barrie's imagined backdrops, soon to appear in those theater sessions, and the Llewelyn Davies' backyard garden. When Barrie turns in for the night, he and his wife enter separate, adjoining bedrooms, but his door opens to an open field and bright blue sky.
The real Barrie was always more comfortable around children than adults and his "Peter Pan" equates the release of childhood with the beginning of a journey towards death. The filmmakers of "Finding Neverland" use fantasy as the intrinsic link between both life journeys. Social mores are also explored from two angles, as the modern thinking Sylvia and Barrie create an unconventional family. Barrie's social-climbing wife and Sylvia's society mother, Mrs. Emma du Maurier (Julie Christie, "Troy"), both strongly disapprove of the connection between Barrie and the Llewelyn Davies. His friend, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Ian Hart, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"), even warns him of the pedophilic gossip surrounding his relationship with the boys.
The ever reliable Depp presents the author of "Peter Pan" first and foremost as a gentle man in the truest sense of the expression, trying to affect change by example, never demand. Depp is a natural working with children, achieving a sense of conspiratorial clowning amidst chaos, while treating the women in his life with deferential, courtly courtesy. His smooth citified Scottish accent never falters. Depp and Winslet click with a homey comfort and familiarity that given the times, hints at forbidden romance. Winslet is fabulous as a fiercely protective mother who has not closed herself off to her own womanliness. She's also independent, standing up to her mother's interference even when her resources are clearly lacking.
Mitchell, in a difficult role, remains sympathetic portraying a woman who clearly wants to connect with her strange husband, but does not know how. She and Depp dance around each other, always off by one step. Christie has a nice arc, introduced as almost villainous (her threatening gesture to the boys with a coat hangar is presented as the germination of Captain Hook), then gradually warming to Sir James' intentions and influence - she regains both the mother and the child within herself. Young Highmore shows an intensity beyond his years while Roud creates an eldest brother facing tough responsibilities at a young age, becoming an adult in the process.
Support is strong even in the smallest roles, with Eileen Essell (the old Irish tenant of "Duplex") a standout in the second of her two brief appearances as theater-goer Mrs. Snow. Kelly MacDonald ("Intermission") is also strong as the play's Peter Pan.
"Finding Neverland" is a moving tribute to the man who encouraged his readers to never lose their sense of wonder. As Mrs. Snow's character so emotionally regrets, 'There's a crocodile chasing after all of us.'
A-
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