Vastly Overpraised

Rating: 5/10 (19 November 2005)

The problem with seeing any movie that has been praised to the skies is that elevated expectations are very difficult to meet. And, I need to confess, that may be part of my problem with "Finding Neverland." But it is far from being the only problem. An immense amount of talent -- Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Dustin Hoffman and the beautiful Radha Mitchell -- has been lavished on a story that might have been an interesting biography (to the extent that it's true) but that, in my personal opinion, simply does not make it as a film. Frankly, I find it difficult to invest any real interest in how James Barrie came to write "Peter Pan" or in the peculiarity of his relationship with the widowed young mother of four boys while failing to maintain any kind of relationship with his wife. I enjoyed watching the still beautiful Julie Christie in her unsympathetic role as the grandmother of the four boys and wondered why Dustin Hoffman would take a minor role that makes no use whatsoever of his immense talent. Johnny Depp is certainly versatile. I'll give him that. But I haven't been much impressed with his acting in other parts and he didn't impress me in this one. As for Kate Winslet, she dies beautifully. All these actors must have seen something in the script that I didn't see in the movie. Or is it that show business is ever fascinated by show business stories? This isn't quite a turkey but it's not a cause for Thanksgiving either.