An enjoyable yet flawed biopic, with a fantastic lead performance worthy of a higher quality motion picture

Rating: 6/10 (27 April 2005)

Although "Finding Neverland" is a fine biopic of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie (played by Johnny Depp), it is also fairly standard in regards to the method it uses to approach the formulaic biopic; I got the feeling I had seen something like this before. The emotional moments all rang true but they still seemed eerily similar to other films of the genre.
However the lead performance by Johnny Depp is truly marvelous and he deserved an Oscar more than Clint Eastwood, at least in my humble opinion. It's hard enough to act as well as he does in this film; perfecting the accent is even harder. And he does both equally, exceedingly well.
The cast all do their best. It's nice to see Julie Christie back on the screen again and Kate Winslet, although fitting, didn't make a huge impression as I'd seen her play similar roles in the past. The most visible casting oddity has to be Dustin Hoffman; I couldn't tell if he was playing an Englishman or an American. His accent was uneven and role seemed strangely out-of-place, as if they cast him only for the sake of irony. (Some might recall he played Captain Hook in Steven Spielberg's "Hook.")
I enjoyed the movie but it was not the most original film to come out of Hollywood in recent years. Like many biopictures it follows the same sort of formula - I hate to call it "sappy" because that sounds demeaning, but it's somewhat true.
For example, although it's a true story, the film still manages to exaggerate all the right moments in order to tug on the audience's heartstrings; the effect is somewhat manipulative and definitely "glossed over."
Overall "Finding Neverland" is different from the Peter Pan stories we are familiar with, and remains fairly truthful to J.M. Barrie's life. Johnny Depp is superb and the film is amusing and worth seeing. It is not, however, what I would call a "masterpiece," nor is it one of a kind. But it's still good and better than a lot of the stuff that came out last year.