James M. Barry mini-biography dealing his relationship with an agreeable family

Rating: 7/10 (28 February 2007)

This story is a semi-autobiography about James M. Barrie's life . This realization titled ¨Finding Neverland¨ (2004) by Marc Foster has a very good cast such as Johnny Depp as James M Barry , Kate Winslet , Kelly McDonald as Peter Pan , Julie Christie and Radha Mitchell . It concerns on the friendship between a famous author , actually lack of inspiration named J.M. Barrie (Johnny Deep), unhappily married (Radha Mitchell)and a family formed by a widow named Sylvia Lewelyn Davis (Kate Winslet) and his four children , besides appearing the widow's mother (Julie Christie) . His friend Arthur Conan Doyle (Ian Hart) tells him the gossips by the high society caused for the relationship with the mother and children . Meantime , the stage promoting (Dustin Hoffman) makes one play's debut with a failed premiere , but now Barrie is inspired by the family and with a new release titled ¨Peter Pan¨ achieves a huge success . The tale talks an adventurous boy who refuses to grow up . But Sylvia's health worsens and and the problems go wrong .
The film contains drama , humor , fantasy and a lot of fun . It's an entertaining movie , a little on the stagy but it still shines . Sets and production design are astounding and glimmer . The highlights of the film are the representation of Peter Pan play which turns out to be colorful and delightful , with an enjoyable adolescent who doesn't want grow up well played by Kelly McDonald . Pleasant performance by Johnny Deep nominated for Oscar and a ductile acting by Kate Winslet . Special mention to lovely hummable musical score which won a deserved Academy Award by Jan Kaczmarek . Evocative and atmospheric cinematography by Robert Schaefer . The motion picture was magnificently directed by Marc Foster (Monster ball , Stranger than fiction) . Rating : Better than average . It's a terrific familiar amusement that will appeal to classic novel fans.
Other films and stage productions dealing with James M Barrie and his classic personage are the followings : The original Broadway production of "Peter Pan", or "The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" by J.M. Barrie opened at the Empire Theater on November 6, 1905. It ran for 223 performances, closed on May 20, 1906, and starred nineteenth-century stage actress Maude Adams, who never made any films ; silent film ¨Peter Pan¨ (1924),and starred Virginia Brown Faire as Tinker Bell , it use much of Barrie's original dialogue , Peter Pan (1953) with voice by Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried ; ¨Hook¨(2001) with Steven Spielberg with Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook , Robin Williams , Freddie Highmore , Julia Roberts , Bob Hoskins as Smee , Maggie Smith and Caroline Goodall ; ¨, and recent version ¨Peter Pan¨ by JP Hogan with Jeremy Sumpter , Raquel Wood and Jason Isaac .