Go Back to Your Childhood or London of 1904...

Rating: 10/10 (28 November 2004)

Theatergoers arriving at another opening night of a J. M. Barrie play provides an initial opportunity to drift back 100 years to a departed era in Marc Forster's 'Finding Neverland'. Sir James Matthew Barrie (Johnny Depp) anxiously awaits
the audience's reaction to his latest work. An encounter with the children of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies in Kensington Gardens alters the trail Barries
professional career takes. Striking up a friendship with Sylvia (Kate Winslett) and her four boys Michael (Luke Spill), George (Nick Roud), Jack (Joe
Prospero) and Peter (Freddie Highmore), Barrie's imagination is influenced and transported to a magical place, which can live in the heart of anyone. The acting in this production is authentic. Depp, Winslett, Although Highmore's
performance is good, the work of the other three brothers is just as
commendable! The Saturday evening I viewed 'Finding Neverland', the entire,
mostly-adult audience was at stone-quiet, rapt attention while transported into turn-of-the-last-century London. Granted, there are many true facts about Barrie and the Davies boys that have been altered for this production, but movies are fantasy, too, just like 'Neverland', and the storyline weaves itself well throughout the entire length of the film. Art direction (Peter Russell) was inspired, and settings, costuming (Alexandra Byrne and Mary Kelly) and properties were
convincing and representative of a bygone era while providing a visual
indulgence. The film provided a moving experience for the audience. Upon
departure from the theatre, I overheard a woman state her husband wiped away
a tear from his face, something she had never before seen him do at a movie.
Perhaps that is the best tribute to 'Finding Neverland' which exemplifies the loss of the purity of youth, as children become adults much too soon.