Beautiful story, beautiful setting, beautiful acting

Rating: 10/10 (28 January 2005)

This is easily the best film I've seen in the past twelve months. As I left the theater, it dawned upon me that I don't remember a bad Johnny Depp movie. The man has a golden touch and he knows how to pick his roles.
"Finding Neverland" is the story of James Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. It revolves around his relationship with the Llewellyn Davies family: Sylvia, the mother; her four sons, George, Michael, Peter and Jack; and Mrs. Emma du Maurier, Sylvia's mother. Sylvia and her four sons were his main inspiration for the characters in Peter Pan.
The movie is a particularly effective portrayal of what occurs in an author's head as he is developing a story. It shows how he takes little bits of his own life, and that of others around him, creates a metaphor for the events, and translates it into a story.
It also maintains the adage that an author must live through personal pain if he is to produce a masterpiece. In this case, Barrie has a difficult relationship with his wife. Try as he might, he cannot get her to embrace and accept the fantasies that inhabit his mind. Like Peter Pan, Barrie is a man that hasn't grown up. He lives in a world filled with Indians and pirates, crocodiles and sharks, fairies and flying children.
When he meets with the Llewellyn Davies family, he finds warmth, smiles and happiness that don't exist at home. He spends more and more time with them, at the expense of his wife. All the while, he is slowly crafting his masterpiece.
The acting is top-notch. All the characters are believable and draw you into their world. I was amazed by the various children's performance. The camera work is dazzling. I especially enjoyed the way certain scenes alternated between the real and the imaginary.
This is the kind of movie that stirs a deep longing inside of me, a longing to write something significant, touching, and entertaining. I'm not one to buy movies but as the credits started rolling, my first thought was "I have to buy this movie when it comes out on DVD." Hopefully that will be around my birthday.
"Finding Neverland" is a definite and very enthusiastic 10!