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 There
shouldn't be a dry eye in the cinema when this film draws to a close.
Not only is it tender and moving, but it's also enchanting, creative
and undeniably beautiful to look at.
The
script is superb, the acting talent is amazing… a perfect blend
of a cast… and to be honest I haven't got a bad word to say
about it! For once a Hollywood director has got it spot on!
Loosely
based on the life of J. M. Barrie, (played here by the magnificent
and somewhat under-rated Johnny Depp), this inventive film set in
London in 1903, joins the playwright as he recovers from his latest
theatre flop.
As
writer's block descends on him once more, a chance meeting in the
local park with a young widow called Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate
Winslet) and her four sons (Freddie Highmore, Nick Roud, Joe Prospero,
Luke Spill), suddenly brings his pen to life!
I must
add here that Johnny Depp was so impressed by the performance of
Freddie Highmore (who plays Peter Llewelyn Davies), he persuaded
director Tim Burton to cast him as Charlie Bucket in the forthcoming
'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'… quite right…. he,
as well as the other kids in this film are fab!
ANYWAY….The
innocent energies, personalities and imaginations of the boys appeal
to the child within Barrie, and from that day on he embarks on regular
role-play adventures with them, from which he develops his most
famous tale of 'Peter Pan'.
However,
Barrie's wife, Mary (Radha Mitchell) and Sylvia's socialite mother,
Mrs. du Maurier (Julie Christie), aren't terribly happy about this
scandalous-looking friendship and it does set tongues wagging among
the locals too.
They
soon learn though, that you can't keep an author from his muse…
or indeed the woman he comes to realise he truly loves!
Some
critics of this film, including the real life family of J. M. Barrie,
are infuriated that it opts for a "fictional retelling"
of his life rather than a fact-based account…. but hey…
even if you don't believe a word of it in a literal sense, you must
understand that fantasies never were much good with reality!
I certainly
found Neverland with this movie, and once there, I didn't want any
of Tinkerbell's magic dust to fly me back again. This is most definitely
a film you'll be happy to get lost in!
Finding Neverland is
released in the UK on 29 October 2004.
Don't
miss our films section!
You know you wanna have a nosey at it!
The
views expressed on this page are those of the contributor and the
opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the BBC.
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