Sweet, Heartfelt Enjoyment,

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2017)

Finding Neverland is a great movie with a very well developed plot and a terrific cast. It is a ridiculously sweet movie as we follow the life of real author JM Barrie, discovering how a close bond with a family inspired him to create Peter Pan. As we see his relationship with these people develop over the course of the movie we can really feel a real bond, it is written in a way that makes it so life like and believable, towards the end, getting quite heart wrenching.
It was a little bit too heartwarming at times to a degree that it felt cheesy. Every scene, every piece of dialogue from the characters is very abrupt and honest, but this can feel somewhat forced when it's so frequent. People are not honest all the time, people do not speak the truth, its interesting when we have a character saying one thing, but learn from paying attention to the development of the character that he means something else, but in Neverland, everyone seems to say exactly what they are thinking.
The cast is phenomenal, Dustin Hoffman shines in a small, but noticeable role, Kate Winslet is immensely effective as the struggling mother, and all the child actors are excellent young performers. Johnny Depp is, of course, the highlight as Barrie, playing a role a lot more toned down and normal in comparison to his usual Tim Burton-esque flamboyant characters, he is subtle, quiet and delivers a meaningful performance of a passionate writer and playwright, as well as an impressive Scottish accent.
Entertaining, with a very sweet message. Fun and well acted, Finding Neverland is a pleasure that runs at a very appropriate time, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good family film or biography.
The story of Scottish playwright and author JM Barrie, and how he came to write the classic children's book Peter Pan.
Best Performance; Johnny Depp