J.M. Barrie, set in stone.

Rating: Null/10 (28 April 2005)

Finding Neverland is as petrified as a log that's been lying out in the desert sun for ten-thousand years. Every movement of the film is predictable, every turn of the plot, every shot, every emotion. There is almost nothing in it to hold a viewer's attention - maybe Kate Winslet's radiance for a second, maybe Johnny Depp's vaguely subversive sleepiness, but beyond this, nothing. The movie isn't even offensive enough to get upset about - you would think a film that portrays borderline pedophilia as something charming and even uplifting would at least raise a few hackles, but no. The film is so bereft of life that even its potential as a controversial white-washing is wasted. The only thing the movie has going for it is a certain sincerity, a certain earnest belief in its own platitudes. Otherwise it is completely moribund.