Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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301 of 322 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Muses of Neverland, December 5, 2004
One reviewer here suggests that you should not seek out the "true" story of how Peter Pan came to be made, because if you do, and then compare the true story to this movie, your enjoyment of Finding Neverland will decrease significantly. I must respectfully disagree with that. Yes, there were a few facts that were fudged - but that's all, just a few. The core of both stories is the same: how an adult came to find a muse within children, and to use his inspiration to write a genre breaking play that gave the world one of the most endearing characters in all of fiction.
Unlike many who have posted reviews, I have never been overly fond of Johnny Depp. However, that was not the case in this film. I've seen countless films of his, and enjoyed them on one level or another, but his personal involvement never affected me in a positive way. The perfect example for this is Chocolat, easily one of my favorite films, but I could have taken or left Johnny Depp. Finding Neverland has changed my opinion of Mr. Depp entirely, and I now count myself one of his fans. His performance was so understated, so sublime, so perfect that he made an admirer out of me. It takes an amazing performance to do such a thing, and this was an amazing performance.
Kate Winslet was Kate Winslet: without fault, capable of evoking emotion with a simple cough. The moment she appeared on the screen seemed almost to be the beginning of the film. Rather - the moment her character and her character's children appeared on film was when it really began
Winslet and Depp had terrific chemistry on screen - in fact, they may have had too much. They looked so good when they were together, that it seemed as if they should have been husband and wife. I kept expecting them to get together, but since one of the fudged facts is that Winslet's character's husband was still alive during all of this, that was impossible.
The film did a wonderful job showing something that would have been highly frowned upon in today's society. A grown man, spending all of his time with children? There may have been a restraining order placed upon him with today's sensibilities. Thankfully, yesterday wasn't today.
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190 of 213 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful: It has such a sense of wonder and imagination, December 14, 2004
A film by Marc Forster
J.M Barrie (Johnny Depp) is something of a failed playwright. His latest play has just flopped on opening night. The audience was bored and left the theatre saying how dreadful it was. His relationship with his wife, Mary (Radha Mitchell) is chilly and loveless. But James Barrie still has an incredibly fertile imagination, turning the mundane into something more spectacular and wondrous, if only in his mind. While writing in a park James encounters the Davies family with one of the boys lying under the bench Barrie is sitting on. This boy is pretending to have been imprisoned by the king, George (Nick Roud), who is really just his older brother. Barrie, unlike what most adults would do, plays right along with the scene and tries to bargain young Michael (Luke Spill) out of jail. Immediately Barrie seems to form a friendship with the family, performing a little play with his dog for the family, which includes the mother Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her other two sons Peter (Freddie Highmore) and Jack (Joe Prospero). Barrie spends more and more time with the Davies, befriending Sylvia and playing make believe with the children. From this relationship we see instances of Barrie's imagination taking hold and the creation of aspects of "Peter Pan".
Three of the boys join in and play every game with James Barrie, but young Peter does not. Still grieving and resentful at the death of his father, Peter will not play. In talking with James, however, Peter starts to come out of his shell. It is clear that this friendship, which is entirely innocent of anything romantic (in the case of Sylvia) or otherwise is of great comfort both to the Davies family as well as to James Barrie. There is conflict, of course. Sylvia's mother, Mrs Emma Du Maurier (Julie Christie) disapproves because of Barrie's behavior but also because she feels that the friendship will only cause a scandal and ruin any chance of Sylvia's being able to remarry into "Society". Barrie, of course, is married. This is the other major conflict. Mary is resentful of the time Barrie spends away from her, but it is also clear that their relationship is not working even before he met Sylvia and her family. They were already sleeping in separate bedrooms (though that may have been a cultural thing, I am not sure).
While all of this is happening, the producer of Barrie's plays, Charles Frohman (Dustin Hoffman) is trying to get Barrie's new play financed and is very worried when he sees what it is. It is a play about fairies and children with an alligator and a grown man who must dress up in a dog costume. Since these plays are shown to the "High Society", it is a play destined to flop. Coming from the twenty first century, we also know it is destined to become a classic in "Peter Pan".
Rated PG, "Finding Neverland" is a wonderful family film. In fact, that is the exact word that came to mind as I walked out of the theatre: Wonderful. There is truly a sense of wonder about J.M. Barrie and his imagination which created Neverland. His friendship with the Davies comes off as genuine and heartfelt and entirely natural. Johnny Depp's performance carries the movie, though Winslet and the four children are also to be commended for how well "Finding Neverland" has turned out. Depp is much more restrained here than in most of his other movie, but he still is able to shine through with a quirkly personality that feels appropriate to Barrie. "Finding Neverland" is a very imaginative movie, beautifully shot, with enough scenes of Barrie's imagination to override what could have otherwise been a drab London. This is clearly one of the best movies of the year.
-Joe Sherry
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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fly away to Neverland, October 31, 2004
I was lucky enough to catch this at the sneak preview and I am so glad I did. Now when I write a review for a movie starring Johnny Depp I can hardly say my opinion is unbiased, as I do own 10 movies he's starred in and two posters adorn my walls, but I believe non-fans of him will enjoy the magic of "Finding Neverland."
The story of J.M. Barrie and his inspiration for the famous play "Peter Pan" will pull on your heartstrings and make you see the magic of being a child and the power of imagination. During a chance meeting at a park after a disastrous play the night before, Barrie (Johnny Depp) meets the widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her four boys. They become quick friends because of Barrie's childlike personality and antics.
The whole movie is very well-casted with both the adults and the children. Depp gives his usual knockout performance that makes you believe that he truly is J.M. Barrie. Kate Winslet also shines at Sylvia Davies and plays her role with elegance and truly fits her character. Still, one of the best stars in the movie is Freddie Highmore who plays Peter, Barrie's inspiration for the boy who never wants to grow up. He displays his emotions so well and makes a real connection with the audience. Castmates, Depp and Winslet, were very impressed with his acting talent, and Depp even got Highmore the role of Charlie in the upcoming movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Highmore almost steals the show, but Depp and Winslet's performances shine through with their onscreen chemistry and a lot of heart. The supporting cast featuring Julie Christie and Dustin Hoffman is not to be ignored, as they both give great performances as their characters. Julie Christie plays a perfect sort of `villian' in the film as Sylvia's mother who wants Barrie out of her son's lives and Dustin Hoffman brings comedic light wherever he shows up in the movie as Barrie's play producer.
The story is simplistic, but is told with a lot of charm and a great mixture of humor and emotions that will make you laugh and then, moments later, get teary-eyed. `Finding Neverland' is a magical ride with great acting and can take you away to your own Neverland.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
TO SEE WITH THE EYES OF A CHILD
Not many movies can encompass fantasy, satire, whimsy, love, allegory, wonder, and sadness with such wit, and clarity, but FINDING NEVERLAND does this, and more.
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Published 7 months ago by Geary A., Jones
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DVD ~ Jeremy Sumpter
DVD ~ Johnny Depp
DVD ~ Johnny Depp
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DVD ~ n/a
