FINDING NEVERLAND (2004) (****)

It’s amazing how a simple story can be so engaging. The film chronicles the events in author J.M. Barrie’s life that led to him creating PETER PAN. Barrie is played by Johnny Depp (ED WOOD) in a performance that is his most subtle in ages. His talent is remarkable.
Barrie has just produced a flop and his producer Charles Frohman (Dustin Hoffman, MARATHON MAN) is desperate for him to write another hit play. His relationship with his wife Mary (Radha Mitchell, PITCH BLACK) is quite cold and distant. Mary spends her time thinking about the important people of influence that she and her husband should meet while J.M. lives in the fantasy world of his head. One day he meets widow Sylvia Davies (Kate Winslet, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND) and her four boys in the park. The boys allow Barrie to play once again, which actively starts his creative juices.

He especially takes a notice of young Peter (Freddie Highmore, upcoming CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY), who has grown up quite fast since the death of his father. Despite Barrie’s innocent motives, his wife, Sylvia’s controlling mother Emma du Maurier (Julie Christie, DON’T LOOK NOW) and the high-class community at large all look down on a married man spending so much time playing with a widow and her four young boys.

The film really captures the man and the motives around the ideas that went into PETER PAN. Within the play, Barrie has messages both adult and childlike. At one key moment someone asks Peter if he is Peter Pan and he replies, "No, he is," pointing to Barrie. The two are a perfect pairing — the man who has never grown up and the boy who has grown up too soon.

The performances from Depp, Winslet and Highmore are all excellent. Depp captures a sense of childlike innocence while still paying attention to the decorum of the age in which Barrie lived. He's not a clown. Winslet is a strong woman as Sylvia. She is dying, but she keeps a stiff upper lip and never lets go of her kind smile. Through her nuanced performance, we can feel her love for Barrie without it ever having to be discussed outright. Highmore is a natural young performer. He plays a boy of high intelligence, but not a contrived "small adult" movie child. He's smart and mature, but his emotions are still those of a child.

The direction is sure handed balancing reality and fantasy with quick and smooth ease. The film creates a true dramatic tension in wanting to see the play performed for the first time and see it succeed. That is a true test of the film’s success because we all know that PETER PAN is a classic. This is truly a family film that has wonders for the oldest and youngest in the audience. It will make you believe in magic.