Starring: Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie and Dustin Hoffman
Director: Marc Forster
Rated: PG
IT’S 1903 and celebrated Scottish playwright James Barrie (Johnny Depp) is down on his luck.
His last play has bombed at the box office and his marriage to Mary (Radha Mitchell) is floundering.
James takes consolation in walking his dog in Hyde Park.
There he meets the recently widowed Mrs Sylvia Llewellyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her four boys, Peter (Freddie Highmore), Jack (Joe Prospero), George (Nick Roud) and Michael (Luke Spill).
Mr Barrie is charmed by the boys, and is attracted to their mother.
As the year rolls on, scandal forces Sylvia’s mother, Mrs Emma du Maurier (Julie Christie), to try and stop the platonic friendship, which is causing so much gossip and scandal that Mary Barrie moves out of home.
In the meantime, Barrie has an entire family as his muse, and by entering the world of the children, especially that of the angry and grieving Peter, he writes Peter Pan for his friend and theatrical entrepreneur Charles Frohman (Dustin Hoffman).
While he does so, Sylvia becomes seriously ill.
The material for Finding Neverland is a few steps removed from the historical events.
Based on a play by Allan Knee, writer David Magee says the film is “inspired by true events”.
Literary scholars will certainly debate the facts, but the film is inspiring in its own right.
Finding Neverland is an example of what is called a “folded” film – a play within a film.
In fact the film ends up offering us several plays and unapologetically blurs the line between the physical and metaphysical – which is exactly what James Barrie does in Peter Pan as well.
Gemma Jackson’s production design, Alexandra Byrne’s costumes, Roberto Schaefer’s cinematography and Jan Kaczmarek’s music are all so good, it’s worth seeing this film for them alone.
But what’s best of all are the performances Marc Forster gets out of this fine cast.
Johnny Depp’s Scottish brogue is utterly convincing, as is the journey he goes on as he discovers his inner child and true love.
Kate Winslet is luminous as the struggling widow who then has to face her own possible death.
Julie Christie is every inch the Edwardian matriarch determined to keep up appearances.
And Dustin Hoffman obviously just wanted to be in this film. His supporting role is small, but is nicely realised.
The star of the film, however, is Freddie Highmore as Peter. His work must rank as among the finest child performances on film.
Finding Neverland has something for everyone – a family film in the best sense.
And for students of Carl Jung it will provide rich points of analysis about how the recovery of the child is essential to believing in the world we can see – and the one we cannot.
