Directed by Marc Forster, Finding Neverland is the story of Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie (played by Johnny Depp). At the beginning of the film, Barrie is at the end of his tether; his latest play has been a flop and he?s unsure where to proceed. Call it a mid-life crisis, if you will, but Barrie looks like any one of us after we?ve suffered a particularly hard blow. Not long after, Barrie discovers a widow (Kate Winslet) and her four sons having an outing in the local park. The friendship that is forged (and, in particular, Barrie?s efforts to draw one of the boys out of his self-imposed isolation) provides the backstory that would become Barrie?s most enduring work: Peter Pan.
The story is fanciful without leaving the earth completely. The staging, art direction, and editing are superb, providing at once a look into Barrie?s pedestrian home life, his excursions (and flights of fancy) with the four boys, and also the staging of Pan?s initial stage production.
As you would expect, the extras on Finding Neverland are a hit and miss proposition. For instance, the audio commentary by director Forster, screenwriter David Magee, and producer Richard Gladstein is quite helpful when dissecting the film?s structure and the imaginative editing that went into it. Decidedly on the other hand, the ?Creating Neverland? featurette is very much an opportunity for the actors to pat one another on the back and say how much fun it was to work together. Somehow they do manage to convey how special the film was to make, and that certainly is a message that shouldn?t go unspoken. Two other featurettes: ?The Magic of Finding Neverland,? and ?On the Red Carpet,? are fairly pedestrian affairs and could easily have been edited into the Magic featurette.
Deleted scenes have the same commentary as the audio commentary for the film and, for once, it?s absolutely crystal clear why these scenes were deleted: they added nothing to the finished film. This is a good lesson for budding film makers and screenwriters, but for the rest of you, watch at your own risk!
In a similar vein is the DVD?s selection of outtakes. Outtakes should be humorous snippets of inappropriate takes or funny pokes from one actor to another. These simply aren?t worth the five minutes it takes to view them.
The reason behind my scathing (well, for me it was scathing) attack on the film?s transfer to DVD is that at various times, it?s pretty easy to see various transfer issues pop up, including graininess, soft edges, dirt, and the like. Most DVD mastering is a commodity affair, but certain films deserve better and this is one of them. After all, it?s Peter Pan, fer cryin? out loud!
Anyone who holds a special place in his or her heart for Peter Pan (or who resents Disney?s thumb-fingered attempts to milk the franchise for more dinero by producing sequels ad nauseum), should think about sprinkling a little fairy dust on the family jalopy and traveling ?Flubber-style? over to the nearest video store to investigate a copy of Finding Neverland. While it doesn?t quite beat wishing upon a star, you won?t regret the flight!!
