Finding Neverland: Do you believe?
As Gwynne will tell you, I am generally not one for inaccurate cinematic portrayals of literature. Nor am I enthralled with films that "take creative liberty" with the real situations or historical events that they claim to portray. However, in spite of the considerable liberties that Finding Neverland takes with actual events, I found it to be a wonderful movie.
At its core is the story behind the creation of J.M. Barrie's work Peter Pan. The original work was written, insofar as I can tell, after a summer of Barrie's gleaning inspiration from the children of the Llewellyn-Davies family in England. According to IMDB.com - all the research I've done prior to filing this review - after the death of their parents, the children were all adopted and raised by Barrie. Barrie and his wife had divorced, and the playwright had hoped to marry the children's mother... but was thwarted in his plans by the unfortunate and untimely death of Mrs. Llewellyn-Davies.
Don't you hate it when that happens?
At any rate, this film is an interpretation of what happened between the initial meeting of the family and the premiere of Peter Pan on the Duke of York's stage in central London. Johnny Depp, in a spectacular Scottish-accented performance is J.M. Barrie; Kate Winslet plays Sylvia; Dustin Hoffman also makes an appearance in a minor role as the theatre's manager/financial backer of Barrie. Radha Mitchell has the unenviable role of playing Mary Ansell Barrie, whom you wish to ask to lighten the heck up throughout the entire film. The Llewellyn-Davies boys are played by 4 little charmers - my favorites are Peter and George (respectively, Freddie Highmore and Nick Roud).
One of the best parts in the movie is how the fantasy and "reality" segments mesh and weave seamlessly in and out of each other. On the commentary, one of the commentators commented that it was pure genius to take the basic costumes that the characters were wearing at that particular scene and change them juuuuust slightly so as to ease the transition between the two versions of events. For example, Mrs. du Marnier, after the kite-flying scene, puts a coat on a wire hanger and gestures with it while leaning in close over the boys. Change to fantasy... this time, her purple dress has taken on an ascot and frilly lace cuffs, Mme du Marnier is wearing an eyepatch, and the coat hanger has changed to a hook on the end of her arm. Arrrrrr, mateys.
The attention to detail and to period arrangements are great, too. You'll note that the main characters often wear *gasp* the same clothing in several different scenes that take place on different days. Mary, for example, has a white and blue-embroidered dress that she wears on formal occasions; she wears a turquoise shift under a gauzy black housecoat-type thing at night for informal around-the-house-wear. This is a refreshing change from other movies in which the character never wears the same thing twice.
And the message is nice, too. In an age where kids grow up too quickly and the world seems to tell us to set aside foolish childhood beliefs once we pass 4 or 5 years old, it's great to see a film that emphasizes the philosophy behind Peter Pan - believing in our imagination and the passion we have for everything as children helps us stay young. The kite scenes and the impassioned living-room plea for Tinkerbell's life especially showcase this.
If you have the occasion, watch the outtakes. They are absolutely hilarious and include such moments as Dustin Hoffman breakin' it down with the usher, Johnny Depp utilizing an electronic whoopie cushion to elicit better responses from the children in the formal dinner scene, and Johnny Depp providing a running commentary on a dog doing its business.
A 4-out-of-5 movie for me.
At its core is the story behind the creation of J.M. Barrie's work Peter Pan. The original work was written, insofar as I can tell, after a summer of Barrie's gleaning inspiration from the children of the Llewellyn-Davies family in England. According to IMDB.com - all the research I've done prior to filing this review - after the death of their parents, the children were all adopted and raised by Barrie. Barrie and his wife had divorced, and the playwright had hoped to marry the children's mother... but was thwarted in his plans by the unfortunate and untimely death of Mrs. Llewellyn-Davies.
Don't you hate it when that happens?
At any rate, this film is an interpretation of what happened between the initial meeting of the family and the premiere of Peter Pan on the Duke of York's stage in central London. Johnny Depp, in a spectacular Scottish-accented performance is J.M. Barrie; Kate Winslet plays Sylvia; Dustin Hoffman also makes an appearance in a minor role as the theatre's manager/financial backer of Barrie. Radha Mitchell has the unenviable role of playing Mary Ansell Barrie, whom you wish to ask to lighten the heck up throughout the entire film. The Llewellyn-Davies boys are played by 4 little charmers - my favorites are Peter and George (respectively, Freddie Highmore and Nick Roud).
One of the best parts in the movie is how the fantasy and "reality" segments mesh and weave seamlessly in and out of each other. On the commentary, one of the commentators commented that it was pure genius to take the basic costumes that the characters were wearing at that particular scene and change them juuuuust slightly so as to ease the transition between the two versions of events. For example, Mrs. du Marnier, after the kite-flying scene, puts a coat on a wire hanger and gestures with it while leaning in close over the boys. Change to fantasy... this time, her purple dress has taken on an ascot and frilly lace cuffs, Mme du Marnier is wearing an eyepatch, and the coat hanger has changed to a hook on the end of her arm. Arrrrrr, mateys.
The attention to detail and to period arrangements are great, too. You'll note that the main characters often wear *gasp* the same clothing in several different scenes that take place on different days. Mary, for example, has a white and blue-embroidered dress that she wears on formal occasions; she wears a turquoise shift under a gauzy black housecoat-type thing at night for informal around-the-house-wear. This is a refreshing change from other movies in which the character never wears the same thing twice.
And the message is nice, too. In an age where kids grow up too quickly and the world seems to tell us to set aside foolish childhood beliefs once we pass 4 or 5 years old, it's great to see a film that emphasizes the philosophy behind Peter Pan - believing in our imagination and the passion we have for everything as children helps us stay young. The kite scenes and the impassioned living-room plea for Tinkerbell's life especially showcase this.
If you have the occasion, watch the outtakes. They are absolutely hilarious and include such moments as Dustin Hoffman breakin' it down with the usher, Johnny Depp utilizing an electronic whoopie cushion to elicit better responses from the children in the formal dinner scene, and Johnny Depp providing a running commentary on a dog doing its business.
A 4-out-of-5 movie for me.
posted by Linz at 10:22 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home