A Whole Heapin

Hey guys, I sent in a review of the X2 novelization a while back, but this is my first real review. That said, I just wanted to chime in with my views on the sneak preview of Finding Neverland that I attended down here in Miami, Fl. It was quite a mission getting to the theater, as I had to make sure that my bullet proof vest was on real tight in case I got into a neon-drenched car chase with drug dealers on the beach (yes, everything you've ever seen in the movies about Miami is true). ANYWHOO, as you know, Finding Neverland deals with real life author J.M Barrie and his friendship with the Davies family, who inspired his world famous play/book, Peter Pan.

The best thing about the flick is the acting, and before I get into the actual "review" I'd like to single that aspect out for a moment. For starters, Le Depp once again steals the show with a heartfelt and earnest performance. I've always thought that he was one of our most underrated actors, but he's finally inched his way into the spotlight, and boy, has he earned it. The man is a certified chameleon. He can play kooky, serious, straightedge, or comical. He can do a variety of accents. Most importantly, his every feature, from his eyes to his hands, and his every gesture articulate just how much of himself he invests in his roles. It seems as if he truly believes in the characters he is playing, and the worlds they inhabit, and thus, we believe right along with him. Kate Winslet holds her own as well, further cementing the fact that she is one of the better actresses of her generation. Although, and I don't mean to knock the wind out her sails, she does get the standard (some would say thankless?) "sick and dying, yet brave" woman role. There's nothing wrong with her performance, it's just a role and charcter we've seen on screen countless times before. Julie Christie has lost none of her radiance or acting prowress since Dr. Zhivago, and here she demonstrates it further in her role as Winslet's mother, the family despot and inspiration for Captain Hook. Young Freddie Highmore, who bonds with Depp's Barrie more than the other children, (and as you know will reteam with Depp in Chocolate Factory) is a very good young talent. He has excellent expressions, he emotes well, he's not overly cute, and it truly sounds like the words that he utters are his. Oh, and his name is Peter, so I'll let you guess which character he inspired. And lastly, I'd like to single out Dustin Hoffman, who plays Depp's manager. He gives a pretty good performance, nothing out of th is world, and his role is rather small, but I'd like to point out that it was pretty cool seeing him in another Peter Pan related film. When I heard his character say the name Smee, I immediately thought of the line "Don't try to stop me, Smee...Smee, try to stop me" and a geek smile spread across my face. Not that Hook is the best flick in the world, but I'm a huge Spielberg nut, and well, you know what I mean. But, I digress. On to the film itself.

I'll start with the negatives first, since they are realitvely minor in comparison to the positives. And when I say relatively minor, I mean there are only two flaws that I found with the film. I'll try to keep it as painless and non "hey look at me I went to film school" as possible. Going into the movie I was expecting to learn a little more about why J.M Barrie came up with the idea of Peter Pan than the film actually divulges. I did feel that the movie accomplished this somewhat, but I wanted a little more. However, we do come to know alot about Barrie himself. By film's end we know that he is intelligent, that (like all artists) he is his own worst critic, that he was forced to grow up in an instant as a child, that his wife doesn't understand him, and that he has a strong imagination and child-like sense of wonder in a society that really doesn't embarce such things. And that's a good thing. However I wanted to see WHY he came up with the ideas and characters of Peter Pan, as much as the HOW. The HOW is answered by several Shakespeare in Love moments (Example: Barrie has a big, St. Bernand-like dog that was obviously the inspiration for Nana, the afore-mentioned Christie was the inspiration for Hook, Peter was the inspiration for Pan, etc.), which are cute, but by the end of that film, we know why Shakespeare set out to write the greatest tradegy of all time. Well, to a certain degree, we know why Barrie wrote Peter Pan by the time this film ends as well, but it was articulated and visualized better in Shakespeare. WHY focus on the boy who never wanted to grow up? I guess these things are answered somewhat (perhaps hanging around the kids made him want to spread the innocence and charm that one loses in adulthood, perhaps he wanted to warn adults not to lose sight of their childhood, perhaps he wanted to feel like a child again himself since the child he w as "died" prematurely) but there wasn't enough evidence onscreen to back these theories up. I'm not saying we needed a three minute long expository scene where he spews out every nuance and detail of the Pan mythos and what he was trying to say with it, but the movie does seem to linger on Winslet's sickness a wee bit much.

And that is the movie's other flaw...it tries to make you cry too much. There's nothing wrong with sentiment in film, hell I'm the biggest sap of them all, I welled up a few times, but towards the end this film tries a little too hard. There are some sweet scenes in there to be sure, but taken as a whole it's a bit much. I would have preferred a few more scenes of Barrie analysis than of obvious "hey we want you to cry now" moments, but again, I digress. I don't mean it to sound as harsh as it does, but I just wanted a little bit more of the WHY and a tad less sap, and I'm not sure how else to express it. Now onto the positives.

Fortunatley, the positives outweigh the negatives. As I said, the acting is the best thing about the flick, but coming in a close second are the fantasy sequences. There are several scenes where Barrie and the children play together, and the film cuts back and forth between their imaginations and the real world. The result is, to sound very cliche, enchanting and charming. Utilizing this technique was such a brilliant idea because it serves to show how effectively Barrie related to the children and pulled them into his world, and it rang true personally for myself, because that's exactly how it was as a kid for me. Before the ugliness of adulthood (adulthood being a realtive term in my case) set in, I used to see the world like that. I used to go on adventures to far away places and imaginary lands, and everytime I was called back for dinner or chores, I would pop right out of my fantasy and feel somewhat betrayed. Which is why I fell in love with movies I guess, because it's the same kind of make believe We need stories in our lives, we need to fight pirates once in a while, we need imagination, and we definitely need to fly, and the movie illustrates this need for escapism perfectly. It does so in a great scene that occurs during the play's grand opening night. The looks on the children's faces in the audience as they bear witness to the wonderful world that Barrie created, and moreover, the adults who are watching them as they watch the play...It was just a perfect scene. And see, since the message of the movie was expressed so perfectly in that one scene, you all can disregard my somewhat harsh sounding critical paragraph, which I'd hope that you would do anyway, and you should watch the film for yourself and formulate your own opinion.

So in conclusion, Finding Neverland appealed to the sap (in a good way) and the kid in me, but the "serious film goer" wanted a tad more development for the main character. That said, any movie that makes you feel something is worth preserving, and worth seeking out. If you have an imagination, then go see it. Enjoy it kids.

Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo

Or how about this one:

Hello Harry,

I caught the sneak preview of Marc Forster's "Finding Neverland". What a wonderful movie! Johnny Depp gives a tremendous performance once again, and even though this seems to be one of his tamest, there was no use for "weirdness" in this film. He was excellent. Kate Winslet was great, as always. Her part wasn't as big as I had expected it to be. The boys took center stage more than she did, but her part was crucial nonetheless. Oh, and the boys. The young boy that played Peter is a revelation. What a wonderful young actor! He's got to keep going in movies. He delivered his lines perfectly and stood on his own with Depp. And I'm sure that's hard to do.

Dustin Hoffman was quite funny in a role that suprisingly didn't come off as a glamorized cameo. Hoffman played the part really well, and was quite different to his "Huckabees" persona. While Julie Christie played an excellent "villain". The story is an uplifting tale, with many moments where the characters overcome obstacles and eventually prevail. The trailer to this movie always gave me chills (what's the song that plays near the end of #2 version trailer), but it still looked like a feel-good movie in the vein of "Radio" or "Miracle", but it wasn't. And trust me, I hate feel-good movies that always have the same exact character arcs and resolutions, but "Neverland" never seems like that type of movie. Because of the talent involved, and the way the story focuses on mainly the relationship of Depp and the little boy, it seems like an actual adult drama that will also play well with kids. It makes you feel good without leaving you feeling cheated out of brain cells once the credits start rolling (Radio).

The film's structure parallels the scene of the opening night of the play "Peter Pan". It's an adult play/movie, but the kids will eyes will be glued to the screen with awe (mine were) as the movie shifts from the story to imaginary scenes that are edited so seamlessly, it deserves some sort of award, perhaps an Oscar (at least nominate it). Depp should be nominated for an Oscar (his accent is perfect) and I could see that little boy getting some sort of recognition. He was really good. The dog was good too.

And is it just me, or did this movie have a little "Pirates of the Caribbean" reunion going on (actor who played Nanny, the usher). With so much said, "Finding Neverland" is one of the best films of the year, and it certifies Johnny Depp as the greatest actor of the new millenium (and of the 1990's perhaps).

Thanks,

Andrew Kightlinger

Here’s another!

Hey everybody, Hakeem here with a review of the wonderful Finding Neverland. First time writing your way though I have a few reviews in my blog (hakeemsmovies.blogspot.com). Hope you find it useful:

Finding Neverland

Marc Forster directs this adaptation of Allan Knee's play "The Man Who Was Peter Pan", which tells the story of James M. Barrie and what inspired him to write "Peter Pan", perhaps the most wonderful story of all time, and the result, as Peter himself says at the end of the movie, is magical.

Johnny Depp plays Barrie, who meets Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslett), a widow and mother of four young boys, George, Jack, Michael, and Peter, and by playing and having fun with them, is how he gets his inspiration to write the story about the children that didn't want to grow up, and that with the power of imagination and believe, they make it possible.

Depp is wonderful as the writer, with a great sense of imagination, making you believe in the children's games and plays, and showing a great love for them. A great performance that will surely get him another very deserved Oscar nomination.

Winslett plays Sylvia, the mother of the children that put their imagination to run free, and together with James they go through great adventures. She plays her part perfectly and her final scenes, in which James shows her Neverland, are between the most wonderful and touching scenes ever portrayed.

Julie Christie is the protecting mother of Sylvia, Mrs. du Maurier, who doesn't like Barrie very much, as he gets closer to the family, and because he's a married man, she doesn't like him being around much as that interferes with Sylvia's finding of somebody to take care of her and the children.

Dustin Hoffman is Charles Frohman, in a small part that though very well played, is not as important as the rest of the cast's.

The kids are a great part of the movie, specially Peter of course, played by Freddie Highmore with big blue eyes and an innocence that makes you believe he's the boy that doesn't want to grow up.

Thanks to beautiful storytelling and magical scenes by Forster, and great performances by Depp, Winslett and the kids, I finally saw Barrie's Neverland, and it's a wonderful place where I'd like to be.

And, yes, even another!

Hi, Harry. If you use this, call me 'Eaglet.'

I just got back from a sneak preview of 'Finding Neverland.'

Here's what you'll hear about 'Neverland' in the coming week: it's 'Shadowlands,' only with Johnny Depp instead of Anthony Hopkins, and much better. That, to be sure, is the movie in a nutshell, although it does not do it near enough justice. I won't bother going into the plot, but, as everyone knows, Johnny Depp plays J. M. Barrie, Scottish author of the play Peter Pan, in the early 1900s.

The accent is impeccable. You'll forget he's doing one after the first ten minutes, in fact, you'll forget you're watching Johnny Depp (and comparing him to his other roles), after twenty. Some movies are horrible, but watchable because of Depp ('Secret Window'), some are good, but needed Depp's performance to give it the edge it needs ('Pirates of the Caribbean'), but yet others, including this one, are fantastic pictures that have Depp so at the heart of the movie that he becomes the character, and the character becomes him. I could not see 'Neverland' working without Depp, not because he makes a bad film good, but because he is so integral to what the picture is, the two become inseparable. Think of a cake, and Johnny Depp is the sugar.

The movie itself, however, is the flour. It melds together Barrie's imagination and reality in such a way as I've never before see. Marc Foster cuts between shots of Barrie playing with the children to shots of the same people in various fantasy worlds, and the effect is mesmerizing. I was supremely impressed by the cinematography as well. There were numerous times that I simply marveled at a brilliant camera move or framing. Many of those all-important moments that send chills down your spine are also there.

All of the acting is magnificent, especially the little boy playing the child Peter Davies, to whom Barrie takes special attachment to (and for whom Barrie names his titular flying boy), who will also be playing Charlie in the upcoming Burton adaptation of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' next to Depp. Kate Winslet and Julie Christie also impress as Peter's mother and grandmother, respectively. If there is one ill note I felt in the acting, it was in Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Barrie's producer. Hoffman's acting simply felt a little too Hoffman-y for me. Take from that what you will.

The film moves along at a perfect pace. The film was about an hour and a half, although it felt nowhere near that short. In fact, the film began exactly when it should, did not rush through anything, and then ended exactly where it needed to.

Do not expect perfect historical accuracy. The film's opening credits include the title 'Inspired by True Events,' and so do not be surprised when the film deviates from true events, or eliminates people here and there.

How did 'Neverland' stack up, then? Let me put it this way: About halfway through the film I decided that every writer should see this movie. By the end I decided every human should. The picture becomes more than about a writer and the family he loves, it becomes a story about what love is, and how it is best expressed. I cannot describe how incredible the movie is. I won't say that to me it was a life changing experience, but perhaps it will be to many in the audience.

Go see 'Neverland.' 5 stars out of 5.

Sooooo... you guys liked it, then?

"Moriarty" out.