The mind can be a tool or a weapon, depending on
its bearer and their motives, of course. The wild ideas
inside of the head of J.M. Barrie, the author of the
beloved play Peter Pan, which has spawned novels
and films over nearly the last century, were a bit of
both. Finding Neverland, a biopic which enchants
with its own sort of whimsical, everyday depiction of
Barrie, shows both sides of the man’s imagination. He
was not highly thought of before writing his masterwork,
mostly because his strange ideas laid the title of a
public eccentric upon his shoulders. The film does not
question the fact that Barrie was an entirely good man,
but it also never ignores the public’s bitter reaction
towards him. This all goes without saying that, once
Peter Pan came out, his opposition was shown a world
of speechless glory which allowed them to put their
objections aside.
Barrie, who is expertly
portrayed by Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland,
once lived in the company of a prim and proper wife, who
he was mostly indifferent to. Writing plays that were
produced by Charles Frohman, he was confined to a life
of conventions. This is not to say that his mind didn’t
have higher aspirations, which were screaming to leave
the jail-cell of his skull. Finding Neverland
takes off right after Barrie presents a critically
denounced drama, when he finds himself sitting on a
bench in the local park, writing in his journal. There,
he meets family of a widower, comprised of Sylvia
Llewelyn-Davies (an elegant Kate Winslet) and her four
boys, Peter (Freddie Highmore), Jack (Joe Prospero),
George (Nick Roud), and Michael (Luke Spill). This is
when those higher aspirations decided that they would
release themselves into everyday life.
At this point in time, the
five Llewelyn-Davieses are still coping with the loss of
their cherished father unit, as Sylvia is without work
and the boys without anyone older to identify with.
Peter, in particular, is struggling and is in a bit of a
state of brutal denial about death and misery. The young
and talented Highmore captures the character’s glumness
with perfection, allowing Depp’s Barrie to instantly
develop a warm sympathy for him, when they first meet.
He does the same with the rest of the family. Bored by
his own real life but forever intrigued by his thoughts,
Barrie is able to befriend the boys by simply
understanding their ambitions. He plays with them and
helps them through a tough chapter in their life,
amusing himself along the way.
Depp’s first encounter with
Peter and his brothers sets the tone for their entire
relationship. Barrie is first acquainted with the
children, and is drawn to their mystical, pretend game,
in which they operate a prison. Sylvia steps into the
picture a few minutes later; she is not his motivation
in associating with him. She is a woman who later clicks
with Barrie, but adultery is not on his wish list. As
frustratingly constraining as his wife is, he does not
originally have romantic urges for Sylvia. Once his wife
left him after he bonded so heavily with a family other
than his own, The Real Barrie may have thought about
creating something more than a tight, meaningful bond of
friendship and partnership with Sylvia, but that’s not
an idea of much interest to me. In Finding Neverland
Barrie develops an attachment for the
Llewelyn-Davieses that is beautifully spoken of in its
narrative. When Sylvia’s fateful illness, which had
every reason to come off as overly schmaltzy in the
movie, is fully discovered of, viewers will be affected,
rather than rolling their eyes. The same could be said
of all of the rest of the plot’s several happenings.
The imaginative vision of
Barrie’s life is not overly dramatized in Finding
Neverland. In truth, he was just an average guy that
was observant of his surroundings and appreciated their
wonder. Peter Llewelyn-Davies and his family inspired
the playwright to pen Peter Pan, and through his
own experiences with them, Barrie communicated,
magically, with his audience. The fairly ordinary, if
imaginative, events, which they share together in the
movie, will be enough to enchant all viewers, regardless
of their subtlety. Finding Neverland is
definitive proof that a glamorized biopic does not need
expensive visuals and a booming musical score, in order
to be a spectacle.
The fact that many assumed
Barrie to be a pedophile because of his closeness with
the young Llewelyn-Davieses definitely worked against
him and was one of the many negative effects of his
dreamy ideas. But, Finding Neverland is not
troubled by such beliefs; it merely lets vision be vision
and gracefully flows, never overstaying its welcome.
-Danny, Bucket Reviews (11.28.2004)