Netflix Pick of the week (8/18/07)
You find a glimmer of happiness in this world, there’s always someone who wants to destroy it.
Finding Neverland, the second IncendiaryLit.com pick by director Marc Forster, tells the story of noted playwright J.M. Barrie and how his world-famous play Peter Pan made it to the stage. Released in 2004, the film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Actor, for star Johnny Depp. Known for his chameleon-like ability to play a wide variety of characters, Depp turns in one of his strongest and most moving performances to date, as well as “the most realistic Scottish accent by an American,” according to an actual Scottish person. (Ha.) The cinematography is gorgeous and lush, and the musical score, which won the Oscar, is both whimsical and wistful.
However, one of the film’s most revelatory aspects is young Freddie Highmore, who portrays Peter Llewelyn Davies, the child who inspired Barrie’s Peter Pan. His performance here is honest and heartbreaking; Depp was so impressed he insisted Highmore was cast opposite him as Charlie Bucket in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The film celebrates the beauty of childhood innocence and the magic of imagination, but ultimately reminds us that, all too often, reality intervenes to take it away. I highly recommend this movie, but be warned: it’s one hell of a tear-jerker. Watch it. Then tell us what you thought- and how hard you cried. Don’t worry, we won’t make fun of you.