Finding Neverland: Star light, star bright

Take the first star to the right and straight on until dawn...

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J.M. Barrie: You can visit Neverland any time you like.
Peter Llewelyn Davies: How?
J.M. Barrie: By believing, Peter. Just believe.

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Michael Llewelyn Davies: [about J.M. Barrie] Can we have him for supper?
Sylvia Llewelyn Davies: Have him to stay for supper, Michael. We're not cannibals.

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Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight,
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.

So goes the childhood rhyme.

Finding Neverland is very much about childhood, and Johnny Depp is a very, very bright star. I wish you all could watch Finding Neverland and remember, if only for a moment, what a joy it was to be a child.

This movie covers a very brief period in the life of Sir James Matthew Barrie (Johnny Depp) from the failure of one play to the creation of the next, his most imaginative and successful creation, Peter Pan. During this period, he meets and befriends Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet), a young widow, and her four boys. As Barrie draws inspiration and imagination from this friendship, it causes many problems for him, both with his wife Mary (Radha Mitchell) and with Sylvia's mother, Mrs. Emma du Maurier (Julie Christie). While the two ladies fret over appearances and motives, his friend and producer, Charles Frohman (Dustin Hoffman), struggles with Barrie's strange and unusual script.

Finding Neverland is pure magic, from its Oscar winning score, to its seamless special effects, and its fabulous recreation of London in 1903. Almost every adult member of the central cast has won an Oscar, no guarantee to be sure, but here they turn the beautiful screenplay by David Magee, into a work of art. I could talk about Winslet or Hoffman or Christie, or the four boys, whose parts and terrific performances are so essential to the plot. I could wax euphoric about the director, Marc Forster, and his enchanted handling of this sensitive piece. All these people are fantastic and noteworthy and deserving of great praise. But the one overriding presence, the one that turns a fabulous movie into a timeless classic, is Johnny Depp.

As Barrie, Depp turns in a finely underplayed performance, with grace, charm and a flawless Scottish accent. He provides the backdrop against which everyone else can shine, and by doing so, he magically steals the movie from himself. His conversations with the boys are particularly moving, as he reveals his character in glimpses, nuances and unspoken words. His relationship with Sylvia forms not in their conversation, but in their silence. Watch closely two conversations he has with the same old lady on the two opening nights. Here, in one of life's brief unsung moments, we learn how much his character has grown. Depp does more than show us Barrie, he shows us Peter Pan too. And above all, he does the impossible. He makes us believe.

Finding Neverland is an unusual movie because it has no villains. Reality provides all the challenges required, and what a cruel and implacable foe she makes. I cannot say how accurate this version of events is, but it has left me with a keen interest to find out. I can certainly say that I will never watch Peter Pan the same way again. I had never realized before the depths that its metaphors conceal, both of childhood joy and the sorrow of its passing. The simple plot is far deeper than I knew.

And in the end, you and up with a movie that flows effortlessly from fantasy to reality, and all the lands between. The result is so captivating, that I must have tweaked my back while I watched. What else could explain the tears that came unbidden as the credits rolled? What else indeed.

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This movie is suitable for children of all ages, from eight to eighty. However, I don't think you can truly understand its message while you are still a child. The story of lost childhood has less appeal to those who have not lost it yet.

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Well, after I wrote the above review, my curiosity got the better of me, and I did some digging. Those interested in the actual account of events in James Barrie's life can find and excellent pocket biography at:

http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/jmbarrie.htm

I strongly suggest that you do not visit this site until AFTER you have seen the movie.

Although most of the events that take place in the movie are true, they have changed the timescale for dramatic effect. For example, the play immediately before Peter Pan was The Admirable Crichton, Barrie's second most successful work and not a dismal flop as shown. There are also some significant differences in the timeline and some darker overtones, none of which I can discuss without being a spoiler.

I would ask folks that follow this link, to please respect the no-significant-details rating of this review, and not discuss Barrie's life in the comments. Thank you.


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Finding Neverland (2004)

Directed by Marc Forster

Written by
Allan Knee (Play: The Man Who Was Peter Pan)
David Magee (screenplay)

Cast:
Johnny Depp - Sir James Matthew Barrie
Kate Winslet - Sylvia Llewelyn Davies
Julie Christie - Mrs. Emma du Maurier
Radha Mitchell - Mary Ansell Barrie
Dustin Hoffman - Charles Frohman
Freddie Highmore - Peter Llewelyn Davies
Joe Prospero - Jack Llewelyn Davies
Nick Roud - George Llewelyn Davies
Luke Spill - Michael Llewelyn Davies
Ian Hart - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Kelly Macdonald - Peter Pan

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Please check out some of my other movie reviews:

Dodgeball -- A True Underdog Story ****
Kiss of the Dragon ****
House of Flying Daggers ***
Hero *****
Sideways *****
Quest for Camelot **
The Haunted Mansion **
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas ****
A Knight's Tale ***
Collateral ****


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