Saturday, May 3, 2014

Finding Neverland



Length: 102 Minutes

I've seen this one.

Is it loyal to the book? This one is complicated. It is a movie based off of play - inspired by a book - inspired by a movie - based off of a book - based off of a play - inspired by real life. Did you catch all that? With all that inspiration going on I'm not even sure what we should be loyal to at this point. I do know that historical accuracy has been occasionally left behind in favor of whimsical though.

Best character: Hmmm... Honestly I do love J.M. Barrie. I don't know how accurate the portrayal of the historical person is, but the portrayal of a creative mind is perfect. I love Johnny Depp's performance here... and it is probably the least Depp-ish of all his roles.

But is it art? The beautiful portrayal of what goes into a creative work is wonderful. As a writer I can deeply sympathize with Barrie in this film.

Major Flaws: Occasionally the whimsy trails into smarmy territory. Especially where Peter is involved. Remember this kid? 
For a while there you couldn't watch fantasy set outside of Hogwarts without seeing his face. He. Was. Everywhere. I guess he had a lot of whimsy? I don't know, he is an okay actor but I personally always felt something a little off-putting about him.

Now that he's all grown up everyone else can enjoy the vibes I've been getting off him for a decade.


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