Johnny Depp Plays a Normal Human Being, For Once

Rating: 7/10 (3 September 2010)

This gloopy biopic about J.M. Barrie and the events that inspired "Peter Pan" almost made me angry at how grossly manipulative it was, and all the more angry that it managed to work on me anyway.
Johnny Depp plays Barrie in one of the only roles he's played in the last many years that resembles a real living person. Kate Winslet and Freddie Highmore are both terrific as a brother and sister who befriend Barrie, much to the disapproval of a stern and uptight mother (Julie Christie).
The film's final scenes, in which Winslet's character dies gracefully while Barrie unleashes a barrage of fantasy to help make her last moments on earth tolerable, are maudlin and unforgivingly sentimental --- and they managed to have me reduced to sobs.
Grade: B