Imagining Neverland

Rating: 8/10 (10 December 2004)

Finding Neverland is a film that relies as much imagination in the viewer as does J.M. Barrie's classic tale Peter Pan itself, if not more, since we are basically told to believe what we have seen is real. The critical viewer will certainly know that he must not take the 'Inspired by a true story' so serious as to believe that everything that happened in the film did happen in reality, but besides some minor points the film manages to be quite believable. I must warn though, that some people, who do not like the fantasy genre might not like this movie, since there are some 'imaginative' scenes in it. I myself (a huge fan of Star Wars and the like) must admit that I struggled with the element of fantasy in this film the first time it was introduced. As the movie preceded though, I got sucked into an imaginative state and I got carried away by the magic of the film.
Now it might seem that everything in this film is magic and sweet, but there is also some drama and some harsh reality in this film, which makes it a somewhat extraordinary mix of a film. Some elements are really childlike and could be passed off as a film for kids up to 14 or so, while other themes (especially in the ending) will not be of interest or might not be suitable for some children up to that age. I could relate very good to the adult as well as to the immature (childish) themes of the movie and therefore enjoyed the movie very much. Some might argue that the film is overly sweet and sentimental, but I didn't feel that way. Sure the ending is somewhat sentimental, but it is not soap-opera sentimental and I did not feel that the director tried to milk out every possible tear in the audience by extending every scene in the end beyond what was necessary to convey it's last message. I mean after seeing this it is obvious that at least one scene could have been much longer ;) (not spoiling things here I hope)!!! I don't know what else to say about this film, except that I felt that it was a success on all fronts. The directing was good (I thought Mr.Forster did a better job on this one that he did on Monsters Ball), the music was good and the acting was just great! Johnny Depp was good as ever, although I felt that he was better in last year's Pirates of The Caribbean (probably due to the fact that the latter had a weaker cast overall). I still think he deserves an Oscar nod though. What to say about Kate Winslet then (despite mentioning (again) that I have a thing for her)??? I thought she was good as well, although I felt that she had a lot more character development in The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and that she should win the Oscar for that latter performance. As far as the rest of the actors are concerned, they all did a good job except for one: Freddie Highmore!!! Yes, you got that right. The boy that played Peter. He completely blew me away. I mean Í sort of expected good acting (since Winslet, Depp and Hoffman were cast) but I never expected this little fellow to be as great as he was. The new Osment? Well, no! I hate that sort of comments. But definitely a promising young actor and I'll look forward to seeing him with Depp again in Charlie and the chocolate Factory.
8 out of 10
post scriptum: I guess Hoffman will get an Oscar nod, he deserves it