Finding Neverland (Widescreen Edition)
by Marc Forster
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dustin Hoffman, Johnny Depp, Julie Christie, Kate Winslet, Radha MitchellDirector: Marc Forster
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Producer: Bob Weinstein
Producer: Gary Binkow
Producer: Harvey Weinstein
Producer: Michael Dreyer
Producer: Michelle Sy
Writer: Allan Knee
Writer: David Magee
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 106 minutes
Published: 2005-03-01
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-22
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Miramax
Movie Reviews of Finding Neverland (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: A fanciful version of how J.M. Barrie wrote "Peter Pan"
Summary: 5 Stars
I was eager to see "Finding Neverland" but I knew that the film had a couple of high hurdles to overcome. The first is that I loved last year's version of "Peter Pan" from director P.J. Hogan, who crafted what I think will be the best version of the beloved story for adults. Certainly no other version of "Peter Pan" has touched upon the depths of the tale of the boy who never grew up. The second is that I also have fond memories of the television movie "The Dreamer of Oz," which told the story of L. Frank Baum (played by John Ritter) and how he crafted the characters and story of "The Wizard of Oz." "Finding Neverland" is in a similar vein, more comparable to "Dreamchild" (about "Alice in Wonderland") although it is more interested in the magic that was created on stage when the play first premiered than in detailing the specific sources of inspiration.
"Finding Neverland" is about how J. M. Barrie (Johnny Depp) came to write one of the classic children's stories of all time (you start counting them on one hand and "Peter Pan" has to be there). The situation as set up in the film is that Barrie's latest play has been a flop and his financier, Charles Frohman (Dustin Hoffman) needs another play to keep the theater and the cast afloat. So Barrie heads off to the park with his journal and his dog to seek inspiration, which is revealed to him through a strategic hole in his newspaper and by the presence of a small boy imprisoned in a dungeon beneath his park bench.
So it is that Barrie is introduced to the family of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet), a widow with four sons: George (Nick Roud), Jack (Joe Propsero), Michael (Luke Spill), and Peter (Freddie Highmore). Slyvia and her children become not only a source of inspiration for the Lost Boys, Pirates, and Indians of Neverland but the family he never had. But even in this reimagined version of how "Peter Pan" came to be written it is clear that Barrie does not want to be a father. He wants to be a brother, and eventually we find out why that would be an important gap in his life to be filled.
Mary Answell Barrie (Radha Mitchell) is not happy that her husband is seeking inspiration with another woman and her family, and Barrie seems to be on cusp of scandal as he continues to do what he want and writes his new play. Mary is not a sympathetic figure because it is clear from the start that she has no idea what sort of man she is married to (we can debate exactly what that means, but whatever the interpretation the point is valid). She thinks that her husband is cheating on her, and one of the ironies of the film is he does not do so, by either the conventional meaning of the term or the privileged meaning it has for her, until after his wife has beaten him to the punch. Slyvia's mother, Mrs. Emma du Maurier (Julie Christie) disapproves of the relationship between "Uncle Jimmy" and her grandchildren and what it means for the prospects of her daughter remarrying.
Ultimately "Finding Neverland" is about the relationships Barrie had with Sylvia and Peter, more than it is about the creation of the play "Peter Pan." But it is when we get to the final act of this film, adapted by David Magee form Allan Knee's play, that director Marc Forster's movie becomes truly magical. Barrie knows that he has created a work of genius, approaching this opening night with a supreme confidence he lacked for his work at the start of the film, having assured success by reserving 25 seats in the theater for his play's perfect audience. But opening night is only the first half of the magic, and the second act brings together the major elements of the story into a sublime moment of beauty and wonder.
I was disappointed that there was not more of Barrie's actual play, but then I realized that was because I erroneously thought that in the case of "Finding Neverland" the play is the thing. What sets up the endings of this film is not the play, but the relationships that have been built while we distracting look for the first signs of Captain Hook and Tinkerbelle. This is a movie where the climax is everything you hoped it would be and redeems whatever shortcomings you see in the film up to that point, even if it is only in retrospect that you understand how it was set up.
Depp's performance is incredibly understated by his standards, and I would imagine that an Oscar nomination and perhaps even winning the award could result from this film because of the immense respect and affection he has garnered in recent years with his stellar body of work. But he is merely a conduit for something larger in this case, and if he is the recipient of the universal reservoir of good will engendered by a story that is about to celebrate its centennial, I have no problem with that. Winslet continues to create a solid body of work without most people noticing, and while much will be made of Highmore's Peter it is Roud as George, the oldest son who if forced to be an adult in the span of thirty seconds by the circumstances of his life who captures my attention in a film celebrating the boy who never grew up and the man who wrote his story.
WARNING: If you find yourself bespelled by "Finding Neverland" and want to find out how much of the story is true when you get online, all I can say in the strongest possible terms is DO NOT do that. It will ruin your memories of this movie forever. I am not even close to joking on this one and you have all been duly warned.
Summary of Finding Neverland (Widescreen Edition)
Award winners Johnny Depp (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL), Kate Winslet (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND), Dustin Hoffman, and Julie Christie (TROY, HAMLET) star in this magical tale about one of the world's greatest storytellers and the people who inspired his masterwork "Peter Pan." Well-known playwright James M. Barrie (Depp) finds his career at a crossroads when his latest play flops and doubters question his future. Then by chance he meets a widow (Winslet) and her four adventurous boys. Together they form a friendship that ignites the imagination needed to produce Barrie's greatest work! An enchanting big-screen treat with an acclaimed cast of stars, FINDING NEVERLAND has been hailed as one of the year's best motion pictures!Sweetness that doesn't turn saccharine is hard to find these days; Finding Neverland hits the mark. Much credit is due to the actors: Johnny Depp applies his genius for sly whimsy in his portrayal of playwright J. M. Barrie, who finds inspiration for his greatest creation from four lively boys, the sons of widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet, who miraculously fuses romantic yearning with common sense). Though the friendship threatens his already dwindling marriage, Barrie spends endless hours with the boys, pretending to be pirates or Indians--and gradually the elements of Peter Pan take shape in his mind. The relationship between Barrie and the Llewelyn Davies family sparks both an imagined world and a quiet rebellion against the stuffy forces of respectability, given physical form by Barrie's resentful wife (Radha Mitchell, High Art) and Sylvia's mother (Julie Christie, McCabe and Mrs. Miller). This gentle silliness could have turned to treacle, but Depp and Winslet--along with newcomer Freddie Highmore as one of the boys--keep their feet on the earth while their eyes gaze into their dreams. Also featuring a comically crusty turn from Dustin Hoffman (who appeared in another Peter Pan-themed movie, Hook) as a long-suffering theater producer. --Bret Fetzer
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