| Finding Neverland | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Marc Forster |
| Screenplay by | David Magee |
| Based on | The Man Who Was Peter Pan byAllan Knee |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Roberto Schaefer |
| Edited by | Matt Chesse |
| Music by | Jan A. P. Kaczmarek |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 101 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $25 million |
| Box office | $116.8 million[2] |
Finding Neverland is a 2004biographicalfantasy film directed byMarc Forster and written byDavid Magee, based on the 1998 playThe Man Who Was Peter Pan byAllan Knee. The film starsJohnny Depp,Kate Winslet,Julie Christie,Radha Mitchell, andDustin Hoffman, withFreddie Highmore in a supporting role.
Finding Neverland was released on October 29, 2004. It was a box office success, grossing $116.8 million worldwide. The film earned seven nominations at the77th Academy Awards, includingBest Picture,Best Adapted Screenplay, andBest Actor for Depp, and won forBest Original Score. The film was the inspiration for the stage musicalof the same name in 2012.
In 1903, following the dismal reception of his latest play,Little Mary, Sir James Matthew Barrie meets the widowed Sylvia and her four young sons (George, Jack, Peter and Michael) inKensington Gardens. A strong friendship develops among them. Barrie proves to be a great playmate and surrogate father figure for the boys, and their imaginative antics give him ideas that he incorporates into a play about boys who do not want to grow up, in particular one named after troubled youngPeter Llewelyn Davies. Although Barrie sees this family as wonderful and inspirational, others question his relationship with the Llewelyn Davies family. Barrie's wife Marydivorces him and Sylvia's mother Emma du Maurier objects to the time that he spends with the Llewelyn Davies family. Emma also seeks to control her daughter and grandsons, especially as Sylvia weakens from an unidentified illness.
ProducerCharles Frohman agrees to mountPeter Pan, despite his belief that it holds no appeal forupper class theatergoers. Barrie peppers theopening night audience with children from a nearbyorphanage, and the adults react to their delight with an appreciation of their own. The play proves to be a huge success. Barrie is all set for his play, but when Peter arrives alone to the play, he goes to Sylvia's house to check up on her, and misses the show. Peter attends the play and realizes it is really about his brothers and Barrie.
Barrie arranges to have an abridged production of it performed in the Llewelyn Davies house. At the end of the play, Peter Pan points to the back doors and implies that Sylvia should go off to Neverland. She takes the hands of her boys and slowly walks out.
The following scene takes place at Sylvia's funeral. Barrie discovers that her will says that he and her mother should look after the boys, an arrangement agreeable to both parties. The film ends with J. M. Barrie comforting Peter on the bench in the park where they had first met.
Finding Neverland was originally scheduled to be released in autumn 2003.Universal Pictures, which owned the film rights to Barrie's original play and wasadapting it for cinema release the same year, refused to allowMiramax Films to use scenes from the play inFinding Neverland if it were released the same year. Miramax Films agreed to delay the release, in exchange for the rights to reproduce in the film scenes from the stage production.[3]Finding Neverland opened in 2004, 100 years after Barrie's play opened.
Richmond Theatre inRichmond upon Thames doubled as theDuke of York's Theatre, the venue in whichPeter Pan was first presented. Exterior scenes were filmed inHyde Park,Brompton Cemetery andKensington Gardens. According to commentary on theDVD release, the structure used as Barrie's summer cottage was located nearKent. Interiors were filmed in thePinewood Studios inBuckinghamshire, and theShepperton Studios inSurrey.
Filming occurred in various places in the United Kingdom. Production shot a short fantasy sequence at the Laredo Wild West Town inKent. The town is featured in multiple fantasy-playing sessions set in theWild West, when Barrie (Johnny Depp) plays with the Llewellyn Davies boys.[4]
Dustin Hoffman had previously appeared in the title role ofHook (1991), thePeter Pan sequel film bySteven Spielberg. The screenplay forFinding Neverland had originally included a scene in which his character, the play's sceptical producer, was to put on theCaptain Hook costume and read some of his lines to point out how silly he found it. Hoffman objected to this, so the scene was rewritten for him to simply read aloud and ridicule character names from the play.
Eileen Essell, 82 years old at the time, made one of her first feature film appearances. She also followed Depp to a role inCharlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Freddie Highmore's performance inFinding Neverland led Depp to suggest him toTim Burton forCharlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which he playedCharlie Bucket and Depp playedWilly Wonka.[5]
The film premiered at theVenice Film Festival. It was shown at theTelluride Film Festival, theHaifa Film Festival, theAthens Panorama European Film Festival, theMill Valley Film Festival, theChicago International Film Festival and theLeeds International Film Festival, before opening in the U.K. 29 October 2004.
It had a limited release in the United States 12 November 2004, and opened more widely 17 December 2004.[6]
The film was budgeted at $25 million. It grossed $51,676,606 in the U.S., and $63 million in other markets, for a total worldwide box-office tally of $115,036,108.[7]
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On the review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes,Finding Neverland has an approval rating of 83%, based on 206 reviews, with an average rating of 7.47/10. The website's consensus states: "It won't pass muster for those looking for historical accuracy, butFinding Neverland is a warm, heartfelt drama with a charm all its own — and Johnny Depp gives a graceful performance as Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie."[8]Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[9] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A" on a scale of A+ to F.[10]
In her review inThe Times, Wendy Ide called the film "charming but rather idiosyncratic", and added, "A mixture of domestic drama, tragedy and exuberant fantasy, the film blends moist-eyednostalgia with the cruel disappointments of a marriage break-up; a childlike playfulness and unpredictability with a portrait of a treacherously unforgiving and rigidEdwardian society. It could appeal to everyone from preteens to pensioners, or it could appeal to no one at all. Ultimately this unconventionality is probably one of the film's main strengths. And if the tone veers a little haphazardly between fantasy and cold, hard reality, well, perhaps that is the most effective way of taking us into the mind of the film's mercurialprotagonist."[11]
Manohla Dargis ofThe New York Times said it "is the kind of film where even the smallest crack has been sealed. Instead of real quirks, strange habits, moments of everyday gas, gurgle and grunting, movies like this give us sumptuous production design, meticulous costumes and stories meant to leave us dewy-eyed and thoughtful, if never actually disturbed... The problem isn't the liberties the filmmakers take with reality, but that this isn't an engagingbowdlerization... Johnny Depp neither soars nor crashes, but moseys forward with vague purpose and actorly restraint... [he] and Ms. Winslet are pleasant to watch, as are the actors who play the Davies boys, but they haven't been pushed to their limits."[12]
In theSan Francisco Chronicle,Mick LaSalle observed that the film "ends so beautifully, so poignantly and so aptly that there's a big temptation to forget that most of what precedes the ending is tiresome drivel, that Johnny Depp's performance... is precious and uninsightful, and that almost all the movie's magic derives directly from scenes lifted from Barrie's play. Winslet's no-nonsense strength is especially appreciated... Another actress would have followed Depp into the quicksand of faux-poetic self-indulgence. But Winslet is direct, grounded and heartfelt in a recognizably human way. Dustin Hoffman, as Barrie's producer, also steers clear of Depp's rhythms, though he has trouble deciding whether the producer is British or American."[13]
Peter Travers ofRolling Stone rated the film 3½ stars out of 4, and called it "glorious entertainment... magical, not mush". About Depp, he said, "It's too early to speculate on how [he] will grow as an actor. Based onFinding Neverland, it's not too early to call him a great one."[14]
In theSt. Petersburg Times, Steve Persall gave the film a "B" grade, and commented, "A first viewing ofFinding Neverland was tear-inducing and completely satisfying. Seeing it again was a mistake, less of my own than Forster's, who didn't make a movie that can sustain its magic beyond first impressions. Problems with David Magee's screenplay that initially could be shrugged off—occasionally slow pacing, melodramatic plot twists—became glaring. With familiarity, the fantasy simply wasn't as fanciful. It felt like growing up, and it was disappointing. On the other hand, many of the film's qualities are too strong to falter, starting with another fascinating man-child performance by Johnny Depp as Barrie."[15]
Carina Chocano of theLos Angeles Times described the film as "gently seductive, genuinely tender and often moving without being maudlin", and added, "Depp and Winslet share a rare combination of airiness, earthiness and sharp, wry intelligence."[16]
On 6 February 2011,La Jolla Playhouse, California, announced that it would produce a new stage musical based on the film, with the book byAllan Knee, score byScott Frankel andMichael Korie, and directed and choreographed byRob Ashford.[17] A planned production at La Jolla Playhouse was not held.[18] A developmental reading was held in New York 31 March 2011 withJulian Ovenden,Kelli O'Hara,Tony Roberts,Mary Beth Peil,Michael Cumpsty andMeredith Patterson, directed by Ashford.[19] The adaptation had its world premiere 22 September 2012 atCurve inLeicester. Directed by Rob Ashford, it starsJulian Ovenden as J. M. Barrie, andWest End actressRosalie Craig as Sylvia Llewelyn Davies.
On 14 August 2014, it was announced that the show would transfer toBroadway in March 2015.[20] The show played at theLunt-Fontanne Theatre.[21] On 10 November 2014, it was announced that Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe-nomineeMatthew Morrison would take Jordan's place in the portrayal of J. M. Barrie in the production's 2015 move to Broadway.[22]Kelsey Grammer starred as Charles Frohman, and Laura Michelle Kelly reprised her role of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies.[23]
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