Bring back rock-n-roll Johnny!

Rating: Null/10 (1 November 2004)

'Finding Neverland' is the story of how JM Barrie (played by Johnny Depp) was inspired to write the children's classic 'Peter Pan'. Barrie is an unhappily married playwrite who meets Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, a widowed society woman (played by Kate Winslet), and her 4 sons in the park. Barrie becomes a surrogate uncle to the boys, and finds himself drawn towards Sylvia.
It's a perfectly pleasant affair with good performances all round. Depp does a passable Scottish accent (not a Dumfries one though!), and Winslet is lovely as always. The film is ideally suited to those over 50 who have fond memories of Pan. I found myself yawning through most of it, as the story is rather boring. I know Depp is trying to have some sort of mainstream success at the moment and is making films that his children can watch, but I long for a return to the Depp of 'Ed Wood', 'Blow' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. Bring back Rock-n-Roll Johnny! The campaign starts here!
My problem with the film is that I have never found the story of 'Peter Pan' interesting, even as a child. I always thought the story was for posh middle-class English kids who liked visiting mummy and daddies country retreat in the summers and pretend to be pirates. Most people of my age I've spoken to hold the same opinion too. I think one of the main reasons for this is that my generation was far more concerned with the future than the past, our great story was 'Star Wars', and we all wanted to be astronauts, not pirates. Today's children might have a hard time relating too, as most of them want to be celebrities... Pop stars or actors. With the prolification of video, on-demand internet and computer games the imagination that is so greatly relied on in 'Peter Pan' is now in it's death-throes, barely clinging on via grandparents stories of what it was like before Nintendo and Pokemon.
'Finding Neverland' is Miramax's great Oscar hope. The film has been receiving great plaudits from the film bibles such as Empire (which awarded it a five star review), and word of mouth from an older audience should help it perform reasonably well at the box office. Depp may be in with a nomination chance again this year at the Oscars, and I do hope he wins as he can then go back to starring in the films that we all actually want to see him in.