Grade: A-

Rating: Null/10 (21 December 2004)

A touching, gentle, surprising piece of work from Marc Forster, whose "Monster's Ball" was such a brutally heartwrenching film. Forster continues to enhance his reputation as one of the best directors working in Hollywood today, just as Johnny Depp continues to enhance his reputation as possibly the best actor working in Hollywood today.
Depp plays J.M. Barrie, playwright and author, living in London in 1903. He's trapped in a marriage that, if not loveless, is certainly lacking the spark that Forster's subtle hand hints might once have been there. His most recent play, a pretentious and wordy piece called "Little Mary", has bored both critics and audiences alike out of their minds. His producer (Dustin Hoffman) is beginning to lose faith in him. All in all, he's definitely in a rut when he goes out to take his dog for a walk in the park one day.
While out, he meets the Llewellyn-Davies family, consisting of mother Sylvia (Kate Winslet, giving an earthy, very real performance), and children George, Jack, Peter, and Michael. All the boys have unusually good imaginations - except for Peter, played by child phenom Freddie Highmore. He is a wounded and frightened soul badly traumatized by his father's death from cancer of the jaw, and Barrie immediately latches onto the boy, encouraging him to write and to use his imagination.
Barrie becomes a surrogate father figure for the boys, much to the consternation of their grandmother (the appropriately stiff Julie Christie). He also becomes something entirely different to Sylvia, and it's debatable just what their relationship was. I think that Forster dropped some very subtle hints via judicious cutting that it was sexual in nature at least at some point. My girlfriend, who I saw it with, disagrees. In any case, Barrie and Sylvia become close as well.
Barrie is inspired enough by the boys to write his play "Peter Pan", which became the basis for the book - and I don't need to tell you where it went from there. Sylvia, meanwhile is deathly ill with an ailment she refuses to see a doctor for (probably tuberculosis), insisting on burying her head in the sand. Barrie's ultimate task is to help these boys, who he had hoped would never grow up, into adulthood so they can help their mother through her illness.
The best thing about the movie, a quality it shares with another really wonderful film about a blocked writer called "Shakespeare in Love", is its sense of creative magic. Watching Barrie's play develop as his relationship with this family develops and deepens is a beautiful experience. And the inevitable end result of this relationship, this opening of hearts, is difficult to watch without shedding a tear or two.
Another invaluable asset to the film was Freddie Highmore, who gives the best juvenile performance since young Mr. Osment walked onto our movie screens. He manages to be preternaturally cold for such a little boy, but manages to cave in emotionally when the time comes. The release of his pent-up fears, doubts, and resentments is a powerful rage that it's somewhat awe-inspiring to see expressed in one so young. Freddie will doubtless be rewarded for his efforts with an Oscar nomination.
A fine, fine film. Not the best of the year perhaps, but a very strong piece of work. Bravo, Messrs. Forster, Depp, and Highmore.