Best in Genre

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2005)

To review a film like Finding Neverland, rather to APPRECIATE a film like Finding Neverland, you have to know what it sets out to accomplish.
It's clear that Marc Forster, along with practically everybody involved with the production, has a deep connection to J.M. Barrie's play. Because of this, it accurately depicts J.M. Barrie's life. Are there a few "poetic license" liberties taken? Naturally. As we all know, real life is simply not that interesting.
Forster's direction is amazing. The coordination with the cinematographer, along with his usage of grace notes (the tainting of the tea is brilliant) is perhaps the film's strongest points. The score, winner of the Oscar, is brilliant: whimsical while melancholy.
The performances are subdued, yet they still qualify as exceptional. Some on this board have criticized Johnny Depp. Most on this board are not bona fide film critics, nor am I. Even so, Mr. Depp gave an intricately laced performance, complete with a terrific dialect, while refraining from eccentric mannerisms. Winslet and Julie Christie are charming and, in the case of the latter, somehow lovable by the end. Hoffman is his usual terrific self, and the newcomer Freddie Highmore delivers a breakthrough performance.
The film's only weak spot is the very thing that makes it fantastic. This film will probably make you cry. I did. My family did. We all did. Some may feel manipulated into crying, and in a sense you ARE. Even so, Forster succeeded in making you cry or at the very least feel an overwhelming sense of awe and beauty. Not many films that I can think of, and I'm really racking my brain here, have been able to derive tears from sheer beauty rather than manipulated guilt.
In closing, this is a professionally done, admirable, beautiful film. It has its detractors, but I'd presume many of them are just too emotionally closeted to reveal their inner child. And revealing ones inner child is exactly what Finding Neverland does. Perfectly.