Finding Neverland DVD

Advantages: Wonderful cast, great performances
Disadvantages: The sound broke down at the cinema and the film made me cry

Scottish author JM Barrie was the man who will forever be known as the creator of “Peter Pan”. “Finding Neverland” shows how a man whose marriage and career were on the rocks found inspiration in a young widow and her four sons to write his masterpiece. Marc Forster seems to be very much an actor’s director, having previously coaxed an Oscar-winning performance out of Halle Berry in “Monster’s Ball”, a feat that seems all the more remarkable considering ...
...and believable turns from the often hammy Johnny Depp, the tic-laden Dustin Hoffman and not one, but four child actors. And he does all this in a period piece that still has something relevant to say about the themes of childhood, imagination and the creative process. This is an extremely successful adaptation of a stage play that often belies its origins and succeeds in incorporating the old play-within-a-play chestnut, without it feeling hackneyed. ... Read review

Advantages: A brilliantly acted, bitter-sweet biopic of J.M. Barrie
Disadvantages: A glossing over of some of the truths

Finding Neverland is basically a film about the man who laments the loss of his childhood and who writes a story about a boy who doesn’t grow up. It is the story of Sir J.M. Barrie and his inspiration for his most famous book, Peter Pan. David Magee based his screenplay on the play of the same name by Allan Knee. It is a fictional story “inspired by true events”; or so the caption at the start of the film tells us. . The film opens as Barrie (Johnny ...
...He is under pressure from his main investor (Dustin Hoffman) to write a new and more successful play. Whilst in the park, Barrie meets the Davies family: a widow, Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her four sons; Peter, George, Jack and Michael. As Barrie’s relationship with the family develops so does his new play. His playtime scenarios with the boys at Cowboys and Indians and Pirates reveal something of Barrie’s lonliness as well as inspiration ... Read review

Advantages: Wonderful performances, Heartwarming story, excellent direction
Disadvantages: Some historical distortions

...Hollywood movies of recent times Finding Neverland starring two of my favorite stars Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet . Its touted to be one of the strong Oscar contenders and watching this movie its understandable why. Finding Neverland is a throwback to the 50's and 60's era of Hollywood, where emphasis was on the story and characters, not on style and special effects. Finding Neverland is a movie that appeals to the kid in all of us, it's a throwback ...
...The Story Finding Neverland is the story of James M Barrie(Johnny Depp) a playwright who is also the man behind one of the greatest and most popular children stories of all time, Peter Pan . I am sure as kids most of us would have some time or other read about or at least heard the story of the boy who never grew up, the evil Captain Hook, the beautiful fairy Tinkerbelle. The movie starts with J.M.Barrie?s play which is a critical and commercial ... Read review

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...very little about their creator. Finding Neverland addresses this imbalance in the case of J.M. Barrie, author of one of the most famous children's stories ever and offers a beautiful and moving, if highly romanticised story of an important part of his life. Johnny Depp takes on the role of the author and, as is often the case with this talented and versatile actor, turns in a classic performance. It seems that every role Depp touches turns to gold, ...
...never have been written. Finding Neverland works on so many different levels. On the one hand it is a wonderful portrayal of the inspiration of a group of children on the fertile and childlike imagination of the author. On another level it is about believing that many things in life can be achieved if, like Peter Pan, you wish for them enough, but ultimately it deals with the themes of love and loss. There are some wonderfully surreal moments in ... Read review

Advantages: Wonderful characters and based on true events
Disadvantages: Its so sad in places

This film, based on true events, lives the story of a writer looking for inspiration, he finds it in the most unusual of places, but how much will an amazing play cost him? THE CHARACTERS James Barrie - Played by Johnny Depp An aspiring writer, who despite a lack of talent has become a less than good playright. He looks everywhere for inspiration and carries a journal to take notes on anything and everything. Mary Barrie - Played by Radha Mitchell ...
...the characters her's was the least well developed. Sylvia Llewelyn Davies - Played by Kate Winslet The widow of a man with jaw cancer, left trying to raise four young boys by herself, with only the help of an interferring mother. George, Jack, Peter and Micheal Llewelyn Davies - Played by Nick Roud, Joe Prospero, Freddie Highmore and Luke Spill The four sons of Sylvia, who the story centres around and who finally inspire James Mrs. Emma du Maurier ... Read review