Each page of your imagination

Rating: 8/10 (28 November 2004)

Greetings again from the darkness. This one caught me a bit off guard. Not exactly sure how it is being marketed, but this is an adult story presented in dramatic fashion by director Marc Forster ("Monster's Ball"). Johnny Depp continues his stellar run of spellbinding performances as Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie, who penned the fantastical "Peter Pan". Although the film glosses over many of the details of the enigmatic Barrie's life, it does a wonderful job of capturing his fascination with Andrew and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies' kids and their hunger for playtime and childhood. Freddie Highmore as Peter had more than a few moms in the audience reaching for Kleenex. He will next be seen (again alongside Johnny Depp) in Tim Burton's "Charlie and Chocolate Factory" (a reinterpretation by Burton of "Willy Wonka"). A slimmed down Kate Winslet and still striking Julie Christie play well against Depp and the kids. Dustin Hoffman (miles from his lead in Spielberg's "Hook") offers up another nice turn in a supporting role as the theatre owner. Hopefully Hoffman continues embracing these roles as his acting ability really is amazing even though his leading man days are long past. My only concern is that this film will fail to find an audience. It is not a remake of "Peter Pan" and most kids will probably be bored. Adults, on the other hand, will be enthralled and hopefully recommend to all their friends.