The power of imagination

Rating: 5/10 (27 July 2005)

One of the strengths in this movie about the author of Peter Pan is that no characters are so exaggerated put to screen that they couldn't have existed. Emma du Maurier is not an over-evil character; she gives Barrie a difficult time, but has her reasons and in the end even apologizes. Barrie is instructed to be cautious in his relation with the Davies' family at the cricket match in a subtle way. Mary supports her husband to a great extent despite their problems. In Disney's hands there would be no hesitation to remove this balance in story and characters. Note also however that the actual story around the Davies' family and Barrie is completely different and almost the opposite of what is portrayed here.
The writing of Peter Pan, inspired by the Davies' family, offers Barrie a way to deal with his marriage trouble at home and a suffocating British society in general. Parallel we have Peter's coping with his father's death to be the reason he starts writing, inspired by Barrie. When Peter's play is performed, the upcoming illness of his mother throws him back from his imagined world to the real world. The scene in the end with the entering of Neverland is the best in the movie, especially the quick edit after-wards.
The direction is a relatively weak point as Marc Forster (Monster's Ball) could have used some more imagination on a story about the power of imagination. Yes, he weaves in real and imagined images, but that's the only (visual) trick on offer.
Johnny Depp is building a whole new career with sugary movies: Chocolat, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and this sugar sweet one. It is an enormous contrast with the wild roles he took on some years earlier.
Finding Neverland is a decent movie, see it if it's the kind of story you generally appreciate.