Finding A Magical Journey

Rating: Null/10 (31 October 2004)

Sitting in the theatre, watching "Finding Neverland" I was once reminded of a distant past where movies with a lot of soul was in abundance in the maintstream. That past was almost never experienced by me, except for the few movies that I'll always cherish like E.T., Goonies, Titanic, Cider House Rules. From top to bottom, the acting all the way down to the story line I believe that this movie certainly fits the list. Johnny Depp is playwright J.M. Barrie, whose friendship with Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her young sons inspired him to write the classic children's story "Peter Pan".
Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet lead what seems to me, an interesting ensemble cast both young and old. Johnny Depp, plays J.M. Barrie, carried his role with lots of conviction and respect - a feat that is lost on most young actors today. I also sensed a little instinct that one should watch for young actor Freddie Highmore who impressed me as the one who inspired Barrie to create "Peter Pan."The same goes for Kate Winslet - whom has only gone from strength to strength from her "claim to fame" role in Titanic a movie whose story which had a lot of heart, just like "Neverland".
The story or screenplay, is based on the play "The Man Who Was Peter Pan" which was itself a loose adaptation of the life of J.M. Barrie. So that being said, there are things in this movie that I'm sure accurate historians will grumble about like was there any flirtations beween Barrie and Sylvia Lewellen-Davies, but in this case I will defend the screenwriter's choice to concentrate on the children's relationship to Barrie. That in itself provided to be sweet and emotional but not saccharine. After all, the idea of the movie is to make people weep but for them not to hate the movie in the morning. And since I consider this an early awards-favorite, you'd better believe that's the idea.
All that aside, I can truly say that Miramax has come up with something as magical to match Mr. Barrie's magical imagination. That's 2 "magicals" in one sentence! What can I say? It's been a while since I've been on journeys like this in the movie theatre..