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Finding Neverland
Miramax Films


8.4

based on 38 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 104 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG for mild thematic elements and brief language

Starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Nick Roud, Radha Mitchell, Joe Prospero, Freddie Highmore, and Dustin Hoffman

A tale of magic and fantasy inspired by the life of James Barrie, the real-life author of the children's classic Peter Pan. (Miramax)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	David Magee Allan Knee (play The Man Who Was Peter Pan)
DIRECTED BY:	Marc Forster
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 22, 2005 Video: March 22, 2005 Theatrical: November 12, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	106 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	UK / USA

Received seven Oscar nominations for 2004, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Magee) and Best Lead Actor (Johnny Depp). Winner of the Laterna Magica Prize, 2004 Venice Film Festival.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Pure magic.

100

Premiere Glenn Kenny

Depp and Winslet in particular are, as you might expect, immaculate. I don't think there's another actor alive who can convey the intermingling of gentleness and passion with as much precision as Depp.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

It's a real pleasure to find a movie as calm, measured and dead-on in its impact as Finding Neverland.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It's an intellectual family film for literate parents and children, immensely pleasing if not perfect, perhaps a smidgen too brightly evasive and determinedly charming.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

The glory of the movie is Depp, who achieves his own immortality.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Surprisingly moving.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Johnny Depp has finally won me over to rabid support after "Neverland" and "Pirates of the Caribbean." He gives the most controlled, least mannered performance of his career, staying sweet and rueful while suggesting unseen emotional depths.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Glorious entertainment.

The Hollywood Reporter Ray Bennett

A rewarding piece of filmmaking that has all the makings of a classic weepie.

Variety Todd McCarthy

An impeccably made and genuinely moving account of how Scottish author J.M. Barrie came to write "Peter Pan."

Newsweek David Ansen

Mingling reality and fantasy, Forster has given us a luminous, touching meditation on life and art.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Gently seductive, genuinely tender and often moving without being maudlin.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Depp is a charm. He becomes his own, subtly compelling Barrie.

Austin Chronicle Steve Davis

Takes you back to a time in which people – children, in particular – still created whole worlds in their heads, inventing characters and situations as far away as their flights of fancy would take them.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Because it's a well-crafted and superbly acted sweet little tearjerker, we're content too -- it's a mild pleasure to watch.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Delightful and moving - although fanciful.

USA Today Claudia Puig

The story is told gently and simply without excess sentimentality. It is a welcome departure from more contrived holiday fare.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Depp portrays a fellow who is openly gentle to the core, and the actor just about wraps the movie around his lilting delivery and quiescent gaze.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Compelling and life-affirming.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Forster keeps the picture as a whole in perfect tune with Depp's approach.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The film rests on Depp's evocation of Barrie's gentle, playfulness and deeply buried sorrows; it's difficult to imagine another actor so gracefully evoking Barrie's childlike qualities without seeming creepy or emotionally malformed, and only the hard of heart will come away dry-eyed.

Chicago Reader Meredith Brody

The plays and amusements the boys put on--by far the most successfully magical scenes in the movie--inspire Barrie to create his great work, "Peter Pan."

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

A worthwhile way to spend some of your precious leisure time, especially in this season of obnoxious cartoons and ham-handed holiday fare.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

We have a whole new reason to appreciate cinema's most creative chameleon (Depp) since Peter Sellers. The film itself is pretty and sweet but a tad soggy.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Handsome, professional and dutiful, but it never feels inspired.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

It's a portrait of the artist as Mary Poppins.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Washes over you with an enjoyable gloss, and it might even make you cry a little, but it evaporates in memory like fairy dust.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

It just doesn't have the buoyancy, or the resonance, that this kind of semifactual flight of fancy needs.

Washington Post Teresa Wiltz

You're expected to weep, and perhaps you will weep. But if you do, it's not likely that you'll respect yourself in the morning.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Precious and uninsightful but ends beautifully.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

A sappy excursion to Edwardian days.

Village Voice Jessica Winter

Depp and Highmore's final scene together strikes a muted blow of desolation -- bottomless but just bearable -- that Forster rather bravely lets stand as the last word on all the fanciful solace that Barrieland had to offer.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Takes liberties with its hero, which is hardly a crime (the real-life Barrie was extremely childlike), but the movie chases after magic with overproduced fantasy sequences, and a feel-good, literalist climax that betrays the very notion of imagination as a force superior to reality.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Surprisingly wan film.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

A handsome-looking film about the writer and his unripe inspirations, the actor Johnny Depp neither soars nor crashes, but moseys forward with vague purpose and actorly restraint.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Forster's movie doesn't want to grow up, but it doesn't seem to understand childhood, either. For a film about the life-affirming power of imagination, Finding Neverland displays precious little of its own.

Time Richard Corliss

Finding Neverland takes a big, brave leap and lands splat on the sidewalk.

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Dismal and heavy, and the failure rests chiefly with Johnny Depp, who plays Barrie.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 104 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Lara S. gave it a10:
So magical and moving. Can't help but want to hug every character!

Marc R. gave it a10:
I cried!

Sam gave it a10:
After some fun takes on the story of Peter Pan, I've always wondered who the man was that started the epic tale, and if the life of the man was a movie, would it be any good. Ladies and Gentlemen, Finding Neverland has finally ended my craving for that movie, with (in my opinion) 2004's best picture.

Alex gave it a2:
Manipulative tripe.

Crystal P. gave it an8:
I thought it was a beautiful film.

Luis V. gave it a10:
Great movie.

Chel A. gave it a9:
I enjoyed this movie so much that I just finished watching it for the fourth time! You have to really look into every aspect of this film. Maybe even try watching it with the commentary or something. I think my first time seeing it, I didn't catch every small detail of hard work put in, every facial experssion showing great emotion, or every ounce of passion. Now I really do notice. Wow! I thought the casting was especially well-done. I have and always will adore Johnny Depp. He has been consistant with every character he has played. Kate Winslet I think did a fine job. I'm not a huge fan of her but she definitly pulled it off! And I am truely in love with young Freddie who played Peter! I am one of the hugest Freddie fans you'll ever meet. *Laugh* He never hits a wrong note, never too sappy. He brings out the exact emotion of young Peter, so pure and real. He portreys the role without making you think wow, what a brat but instead you just completely understand that he is in great pain and has lost his inner child. The other 3 boys were perfect for their parts as well. I wish Joe Prospero (Jack) Had a few more lines, he's great. At first you think well it could have used some more color and magical feel to it. But really, It was dealing with regaining you inner child so not much of the magic is revealed until it is actually found. I also love the way it shows how writers use the enviroment so much in their work. Barrie would have been nowhere without the inspiration of the Davies. All this talk makes me want to go watch it again! *Laugh* Rent it, buy it, borrow it from a friend-Just SEE IT!!<3

Finding Neverland Miramax Films

Finding Neverland
Miramax Films