If you think that this is a typical Peter Pan movie, think again. This is better, a long way better. The movie follows the life of James Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan’s character, who is played by the outstanding Johnny Depp. It starts with the failure of Barrie to impress the audience with his latest play. Barrie simply looses his inspiration and additionally he also feels disconnected with his wife.
One day, he visits the park to write a new play and he encounters four boys. The boys have just lost their father and the widowed mother, Sylvia Davies (Kate Winslet), is with them on the park. The boys immediately draw Barrie’s attention and he starts performing a spontaneous play for the family. This is a start of a strong bond between Barrie and the family.
Barrie has a great relationship with Sylvia, although it never develops to anything sexual. It’s more like a good friend relationship. He also pays special attention to Peter (Freddie Highmore) one of the boys who has the greatest difficulty to forget the lost of his father. The relationship between Barrie and the boys are mutual. Barrie finds his inspiration back from watching what the boys imagine and do, while the boys find a new fatherly figure in Barrie.
The relationship does not run smoothly because Sylvia’s mother (Julie Christie) insists Barrie to stop visiting the family frequently. Rumors start flying on the neighborhood as well because Barrie spends a lot of time with a family that is not his own. Pedophiliac remark also arises briefly.
Barrie does not let these external factors upset him and he keeps writing incessantly. Every time he visits the boys, he embarks in a new adventure that becomes inspirations for his new play. He produces Peter Pan the boy who never grows up and lives in the fantasy world of Neverland. The play becomes very popular and a great success.
I don’t know whether this movie exactly follows the true life of James Barrie or not, but it is just purely beautiful. It is always interesting to see how Barrie always tries to keep the boys amused even during difficult times. When he embarks to the fantasy world with the boys, it’s always wonderful to see. This is also a very emotional movie supported with great musical score. I cannot say in detail without spoiling the plot, but the last part of the movie is brilliant. You should prepare some tissues just in case.
The casts perform admirably. Depp is excellent as usual and Winslet also pulls out one of her best performances. It is sweet to see them interact in the movie. Christie is suitable to portray a dominant and conventional grandmother. The boys also perform well, especially for the heart-moving performance from Freddie Highmore. He interacts with Depp frequently and he manages to match Depp’s performance throughout the movie. I just cannot say anything bad about the movie.
If you are worried to see another related Peter Pan movie, I can guarantee that this movie offers something special. A great drama movie without any fancy CGI, but it is heart warming and definitely will touch your heart. So I highly recommend you to find and watch Finding Neverland.
Some useful links to get more information about the movie are:
- IMDB: Finding Neverland
- Finding Neverland Official Website
"Are you sure this is not one of those Pirates movies?"
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