Finding Neverland

How can Johnny Depp have gone from 21 Jump Street to Victorian England? I remember one of the few episodes of that weird series in which he ably acted out The Little Tramp, and it made me wonder if he was going to go places. Obviously not just another pretty face, he seems to be able to do comedy and drama with the same ease. This dramatic role gives him the opportunity for understatement, and I have zero complaints about it, even if I felt he was eclipsed in some ways by Radha Mitchell as his wife and Kate Winslet as the Davies boys' mother. It's more precise to say that the ensemble underpins the screenplay, and it's as elegant a screenplay as the one for Closer. More so, as the themes are tightly woven and unfurl only as you're drawn deeper into the film. Reality vs. pretend, a child's view of the world vs. a more severe (and weary) adult outlook, the simplicity of childhood itself and how we lose sight of it as we age. All wrapped up in the tale of how J. M. Barrie created one of our most beloved plays, Peter Pan. You know you're in for a good experience within the first few minutes, during the conversation between the usher (yes, that's Gareth from The Office) and Depp. It's always a treat to see understated humor that makes you laugh out loud. (The penny-stamp trick is another howler.) I can't give this film a higher rating. Plenty of critics out there are getting all hoity-toity about the schmaltz. I don't much care that it fairly drips with emotion all the way through. It made me feel like a kid again while engaging me as an adult and that's the best kind of entertainment there is.

year: 2004
length: 106 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308644/combined