10/10--- emotional with story depth

Rating: 10/10 (30 December 2004)

Finding Neverland is #1 on my Top 10 for 2004 and is 10/10 because:
creativity without significant use of special effects--> when the children are playing "Pirates" in the backyard, we see the viewpoints from all involved (Peter, Michael, and Depp) and the various viewpoints with the dancing bear, how Depp's reality and perspective varies from Michael's skepticism. When Depp sees the boys jumping on the beds and then he actually "sees" them in flight.
story/character depth--> nothing on the surface here
set creativity--> the water beneath the ship on the theaters stage (despite Hoffman's initial financial apprehension) worked well on film. Even the motorcar ride along the bumpy road.
costumes--> well detailed
emotional depth--> the illness and the death isn't evaded or candy-coated; Highmore's emotional performance at the film's closing was exceptional--- so much so, that Depp convinced Tim Burton to cast him as Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (July 2005 release).
This film allows me to laugh and cry. I get to think happy thoughts and feel sadness.
as a side note, I found it interesting how in Hook (1991) Dustin Hoffman played Hook, and a decade later he appears in another Peter Pan film. You may have noticed that Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors that I highly adore, yet, please know **this had no (significant) bearing on how I view this film.