Finding Neverland

Despite a slow start, "Finding Neverland" is a beautifully told story with outstanding performances from every actor. It will also bring you to tears more than once. "Finding Neverland" is just as much about escaping from sadness and tragedy as it is about the playwright who penned "Peter Pan".

Johnny Depp, not surprisingly, is Oscar-worthy as James Barrie, a writer of plays struggling to come up with a story that the audience will enjoy in early 1900 England. The fact that he is also struggling with his marriage does not help the matter. To find his writing muse, Barrie spends long afternoons with his dog in one of the local parks. This is where he meets the Llewelyn Davies family, consisting of four boys and their widowed mother (Kate Winslet). Barrie begins to strike up a relationship with the entire group, especially the boys, as he tells them tales of dancing bears, cowboys, and pirates. Each encounter also translates into Barrie's next story.

While the overall story is about Barrie's creation of "Peter Pan", the deeper issues of loss, love and longing are what pull everything together. As the boys continue to deal with the death of their father, Barrie tries to keep them from growing up too fast by encouraging their imagination. His biggest challenge is Peter (Freddie Highmore), who initially refuses to believe in what he can't see. Thus, the search for each persons Neverland, a place where we don't grow up, where people are eternally happy, and there is no pain or sorrow.

Again, every actor shines in this movie. Depp is equally whimsical and caring as Barrie. Winslet is truly believable as the widow trying to raise four boys on her own. Julie Christie and Dustin Hoffman are solid supporters. What has to work just as well is the performance from the boys, which each one carries off exceptionally well. Nick Roud as oldest son George is perfect in going from young boy to the man of the house in confronting his grandmother. Of anyone, it is Freddie Highmore as Peter who delivers the performance of a lifetime. Many in the theater were moved to tears in the closing scene between he and Depp. Johnny Depp was so impressed with the boy's performance, he nearly insisted that Highmore be cast as Charlie in Depp's upcoming remake of "Willy Wonka".

Perhaps it's the fact that this is the first movie I've seen in a while that simply tells a story rather than try to impress with computer graphics. While the story is about the creation of Peter Pan, it is not a movie to take small children to. There is very little in the story for them, but quite a bit for the more mature audience. Yes, the first 30 minutes do seem to drag, but everything else makes "Finding Neverland" something to discover. I'd see it again.

"Finding Neverland" is rated PG with a running time of one hour and 40 minutes.