Charming, Well-Acted, Nice Formula....

Rating: 8/10 (7 January 2005)

I thought Finding Neverland was very good overall. Yes, it is one of this year's best, and Johnny Depp continues to be one of my favorite actors. It was charming and well acted, but I was not overwhelmingly impressed. The strength of this film is the enchanting telling of a story based on "true" events. The novelty lies in the interweaving of the real life story with the fantasy story of "Peter Pan", and since it is a fictional story about the development of a fictional story, I just did not find it that brilliant or innovative in the many references to the well known children's story. It kind of reminded me of the film formula of "Shakespeare in Love" (about the behind the scenes development of Romeo and Juliet) or the lesser known "Dreamchild" (about the development of Alice in Wonderland) or even "Santa Clause The Movie" (about the whole Santa mythos). It was well acted, particularly by Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, and the kid that played "Peter", his performance alone might elicit tears. Probably because of Kate Winslet and the late Victorian costuming, I was reminded of one of those Merchant/Ivory E.M. Forster English parlour dramas which seems to lend it a more sophisticated art-house ambiance. I would recommend it, but I think it would be just as enjoyable at home on DVD. Also, would I need to see it over and over (the true test of a future classic)? .....honestly, no.