One Finds in 2004 Drama "Finding Neverland" A Writer's Divided Life and a Forgiving Wife
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Finding Neverland would be a catharsis to potentially offensive films of the year 2004 in some way shape and form and it is a good film rather than a mediocre “inoffensive” one.
The film goes that at the turn of the 20th century, London playwright James M. Barrie spies a young family in the park and starts putting on plays for them—though there is much more to Finding Neverland than this.
Story
There would be more to a movie than a grown man and children making up plays in the backyard and in the lounge. Although some movies are barely minimalist and do come with the bare minimum, but Finding Neverland is not one of those.
The fact is that Barrie’s bursts of imaginative fervor, prancing as a pirate and such, takes up a small amount of screen time though is significant in the story. These ‘playtimes’ with a widow’s children were the inspiration for his most famous play Peter Pan, yet another moment shows the inspiration for Captain Hook in Barrie’s view of the boys’ grandmother.
Some of the ordinary, everyday scenes of playfully fooling about with the boys transform into fantasy scenes, which take on the theatrics of a play.
Themes
The film is more and goes deeper. Finding Neverland does not eschew reality and often pits real life with the demands of Barie’s work schedule and ‘playtime’. There are scenes with the neglected wife which showed a strain on their marriage. Tongues wag that Barrie spends too much time with the widow though he is married. Barrie seems to have to make a choice: pay attention to his wife or the young family he is associating with, but which is resolved quite satisfactorily.
‘Pretending’, either mentioned or shown, is juxtaposed with the demands of life itself. Death is breached as a theme, and sickness, but also how someone can come to terms with dying and grief which is painful to process. Barie addresses this theme with characteristic resorting to the comfort of imagination for answers, but how would one talk about death to a child from a Christian perspective? It takes quite a lot of tact and thought. Try and avoid dead clunkers in the conversation that put someone off. This theme penetrates the heart.
Flaws
Barrie is seen to some degree as a boy who never grew up, like the character Peter Pan he created. Though Barrie is enigmatic to a fault in that we never know him and see his heart, though there are prompts to a deeper understanding which are not developed. He stands aloof and Johnny Depp seems absent in the role. However, Barrie is not unlikable, and Depp does play down his innate sense of quirkiness to bring out a more controlled, refined performance which is palatable.
Aesthetic Qualities
There is not a swear word and the film’s ‘ambiance’ is pleasant. In that vein, it is very conducive as a film though it does have adult or mature themes. Finding Neverland is well-produced, there is good moderate drama within to do with relationships, the writer’s life, and sickness, and the dialogue feels right. There are class performers here who do a decent job: Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman, Julie Christie, Radha Mitchell, Toby Jones, and Freddie Highmore. One of Kate Winslet's better films. Finding Neverland is also the writer’s and director’s achievement with good characters and good cinema. A worthwhile film about the writer’s life and the widow with children and the more general, serious themes that can affect anyone’s life.
Director: Marc Foster. Screenplay: David McGee, based on The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee. Executive Producers: Gary Binkow, Neal Israel, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Michelle Sy. Released October 15, 2004 (USA), October 29, 2004 (UK).
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© 2023 Peter Veugelaers
