It has been six years since I visited Neverland with Johnny Depp in Marc Foster's Finding Neverland. This magical film achieves the one of the hardest things in film making, it transports the viewer inside the imagination of a man. The films magic is in the transitions from reality to fantasy that occur seamlessly throughout the film.
Johnny Depp plays playwright and author JM Barrie in this semi-biographical film about the man who introduced the world to Peter Pan.
By happenstance Mr. Barrie meets a group of boys playing in the park and they spark his imagination. He befriends them and their mother Slyvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) who is a widow. He likes all the boys, but is most taken by Peter Davies (Freddie Highmore), a troubled boy who still grieves after his father. Mr. Barrie becomes a playmate and surrogate father figure to the family, much to the displeasure of his wife Mary (Rhada Mitchell) and Mrs. Davies mother Mrs. Emma du Maurier (Julie Christie).
Despite the scandal his association with the widow and her family causes, Mr Barrie writes a play about Neverland and boys who don't want to grow up. Mr. Barrie's producer (Dustin Hoffman) does not know what to make of this new work featuring pirates, fairies and crocodiles, but the genius of it is revealed on opening night.
Finding Neverland is a wonderful film that explores the magic of the imagination and the strength of the human heart.
At The Movie House rating **** stars
3 comments:
I recently saw Neverland and was suprisingly pleased by the movie...first, because I had no idea what it was about and second, by what i learned about tPeter Pan. It was a good movie...Tha tbeing said, it was not a 4 star movie....Once again, I must express that Mr. MovieHouse is much to generous when it comes to 4 stars...Seriously, would this film qualify for an Academy Award, I think not...Was it enjoyable, entertaining, informative and interesting...yes...was it great...no...4 star movies are great, simply by definition
hmmm, once again this serious obsession with stars! very interesting.
Just a side note the Academy chose Finding Neverland as one of the five films nominated for Best Picture in 2004. It was also nominated for 6 other Oscars.
In addition it received 11 nominations from the British Film Academy, 5 Golden Globe nominations, 4 nominations from the London's Critics Guild, 4 nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Group, 2 nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and the National Board of Review named it the Best Picture of 2004.
I think the problem is that you don't recognize quality when you see it. I would receommend this movie to everyone without reservations. It is an excellent movie and I stand by my stars.
Hmmmmm...I dind't know all those facts...Let's discuss something else....by the way...My obsession with stars is for a purpose...My only point of writing is to review your reviews, I could care less about the movies
Saw True Grit the other night...I liked it...3.5 stars...Very interesting way the characters spoke...It stuck close to the originasl movie yet I appreciated the darker tone...My wife thought it was terrible...I'll be reviewing her review later
Post a Comment