FINDING NEVERLAND
By Steve Biodrowski
This fact-based story takes a sentimental look at how James M. Barrie came to write the play PETER PAN. In keeping with a long cinema tradition (e.g. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE), the film tries to find the source of inspiration in real-life events, as if implying that talent is not enough to create great works of art. Fortunately, FINDING NEVERLAND is a cut above the usual for this kind of story, filled with a sense of wonder that emerges in several magical moments as writer Barrie (Johnny Depp) conjures Neverland from his imagination. Several scenes show us what’s going on inside Barrie’s head as he imagines the play that will eventually make him famous; one particular stand-out moment occurs when he watches children playfully jumping up and down on their beds and his imagination takes the scene just a step forward, showing them floating out the window.
Fortunately, there is also a bittersweet element to the story, which prevents the film from slipping into mawkishness. The Barrie begins as an unsuccessful playwright in a loveless marriage, unable to share his child-like musings with his wife. He befriends a widow (Kate Winslett) not out of attraction to her but as a way of becoming a sort of surrogate father to her children. Thus given a chance to let his boyish exuberance run rampant, he soon conjures his famous creation, Peter Pan, the boy who could fly and never grown old. Along the way, the plot takes a turn when Winslett’s character grows ill, contrasting the whimsical nature of trying to extend childhood with the necessity of growing up in the real world, where endings are not always happy.
If the film suffers from a flaw in the story, it is that it focuses on entirely on PETER PAN the play and ignores Barrie’s subsequent novel. Barrie’s book to some extent undercut the whimsical storyline with surprising flashes of bitterness, repeatedly using the adjective “heartless” to describe the selfish nature of childhood. (Peter Pan is an amoral character who rescues Wendy and her siblings because it amuses him; the Darling children ultimately return home not out of any concern for their grieving parents but because they are afraid their parents might forget them.)
The performances and productions values are all excellent. As in SLEEPY HOLLOW, Depp wears his period costumes as if he were born in them, and he manages a convincing accent as well. A genuinely heartwarming movie, the film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture of the year.
