Finding Neverland: The Microcosm of Depp

Finding Neverland: The Microcosm of Depp
by Martell

Lately there's been a lot of writing on this site regarding the “Best Films of 2004,” with Sideways and The Incredibles being the two favorites. I haven't seen The Incredibles, but I have seen Sideways, and I would definitely recommend it. In my opinion, it is clearly one of the best films I saw over the past year. But having now posted three different “Best Films” lists—which mentioned a total of 16 different films—there is, in my opinion, one glaring omission.

I'm not sure if Finding Neverland is the best film of 2004, but it might be, and if nothing else, it certainly belongs in the discussion. No, its director isn't a legend, like Scorsese and The Aviator, and it isn't the media darling that Sideways is. But overall it's a solid, well done film. It's the story of J. M. Barrie, who is expertly played by Johnny Depp. Over the course of the film, he develops a relationship with four boys and their widowed mother (Kate Winslet), and his experiences with them inspire him to write the play Peter Pan. Of course, the play proves to be a magnificent success, and everyone lives happily ever after.


	Kate Winslet and Johnny Depp teach her boys how to fly a kite, one of their many adventures together.

That may not sound like much, and on a minimal level, it isn't. After all, many films have happy endings. Then why is this film so good, you ask? Ultimately, it boils down to Depp. For anyone that has followed his career over the last decade or so, his acting skills should come as no surprise, but I think for the average viewer, he is vastly underrated. Many of the roles he has chosen probably seem superficial, even childlike in their simplicity. The title role in Cry-Baby, the title role in Edward Scissorhands, Sam in Benny and Joon, and then more recently Roux in Chocolat, Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, and now Barrie—all of these roles reek of childishness and fantasy. Yet somehow, Depp has mastered the art of legitimizing immaturity, of validating the childlike.

In the film, Barrie starts out as your typical struggling playwright—a wife, a nice home, a series of good yet unspectacular plays—which is amazingly similar to the start to Depp's career, when he had typical small roles in big films (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Platoon) before moving on to TV (21 Jump Street). Both then take a major risk—Barrie with his fantasy play Peter Pan, and Depp with Tim Burton's fantasy Edward Scissorhands. From that point, it becomes clear that Depp will not take any easy roles, instead opting for those that challenge and inspire him, which also seems to be the moral of Finding Neverland.


	*Johnny Depp speaks to Freddie Highmore about what it takes to be a writer in Finding Neverland.*

Beyond Depp, it's the remainder of the cast that pushes Finding Neverland over the top. Winslet as the widow Davies is excellent; her portrayal of Davies' illness was entirely convincing, and the widow's love for her children is apparent in her every move. Julie Christie as Winslet's mother, Mrs. Emma du Maurier, is also superb, both as Barrie's nemesis and as his eventual advocate. Dustin Hoffman is fantastic as patron-of-the-arts Charles Frohman, even though his role is somewhat limited. But the real star of the supporting cast is 12-year-old Freddie Highmore, who plays Peter Davies, the namesake of Peter Pan. The extreme levels of cynicism and pain that he portrays are unbelievably real, yet it wasn't until long after viewing the film that I recognized the impressiveness of this feat. Upon what does a 12-year-old draw inspiration for this type of performance? Honestly, I don't know. But I'm not surprised that Depp lobbied for Highmore to star with him in his next film, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. His performance was just that amazing.

In the end, though, Finding Neverland serves as a microcosm of Depp's career. The refusal to conform to industry standards, the risk-taking, the manifestation of the “boy who never grew up”—it's all there. And after the successful opening of the play, when Peter Davies exclaims, “I'm not Peter Pan. He's Peter Pan!”, his exclamation encapsulates all that J.M. Barrie was and Johnny Depp is. Our opportunity to watch a master of his craft at work is one of the great beauties of the film. Sideways may offer a slice of life, but Finding Neverland is much more, a fairy tale about reality about a fairy tale, both perfectly told and perfectly performed.

Martell can be reached at martell@babblog.com.