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Finding Neverland
I Do Believe In Fairies! I Do Believe In Fairies!

Starring: Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Radha Mitchell, Julie Christie, Freddie Highmore, Dustin Hoffman, Kelly MacDonald
Director: Marc Forster
Screenwriter: David Magee

Reviewed by Chris Ching

The movie is about an eccentric celebrity who likes to takes young boys to a place called Neverland.

No, it's not the Michael Jackson story, it's Finding Neverland, a wonderful film about J.M. Barrie's relationship with a family haunted by tragedy that inspires the writer to create the classic Peter Pan.

Ok, on paper that might not sound all too exciting, but let me assure you, Finding Neverland is one of the few movies to make good on the oft claimed trailer and advertisement promise to take you into a world of pure imagination. There are parts in Finding where I honestly couldn't tell where reality ended and fantasy began - which was probably the point. Perception, truth, and make believe are the movie's key themes.

With that said, things start off incredibly slow. Set in London at the turn of the last century, Barrie's recent play has bombed, and his marriage too is heading down the wash basin. One day at the park, he meets a widow, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her four boys. So far, so boring, so Merchant and Ivory.

But as his relationship begins to blossom with the family he and his wife are unwilling to make themselves, Barrie gets his muse on. The playful, imaginative stories he regales the Davies' with intertwined with their actual daily lives supply the writer with the tools to weave his next play. Striking a special bond with Peter - the most scarred of the Davies boys - Barrie christens his work "Peter Pan" about a ... well I think you know the story.

Director Marc Forster, best known for the gritty, Halle Berry in the buff Monster's Ball literally makes "movie magic" in the scenes where Barrie leads the Davies family (and us) into his fantasy world. Imagine early 1900s children's stor book illustrations leaping forth into glorious three dimensions.

The acting is just as rich. Johnny Depp will surely get a second Best Actor nomination for his delicate performance as Barrie, and Kate Winslet fresh from her wilderness years after the success of Titanic shines as well.

Also Freddie Highmore as Peter makes the best performance by a child actor since Haley Joe Osment saw dead people in the Sixth Sense. Here's hoping he bridges the child-adult acting cap with the success of a Kurt Russell as opposed to a Gary Coleman.

Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings. These movies and precious few others are able to completely immerse you into their fantasy worlds. While not as fantastical on the surface as these other films, chalk up Finding Neverland as a new addition to the club.

Rating:

(4 out of 4 stars)

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