Finding Neverland (2004)
86%RT Audience Score: 87%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
19 wins & 81 nominations total
It won’t pass muster for those looking for historical accuracy, but Finding 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
Finding Neverland is a movie that will make you feel like a kid again, but with a touch of grown-up emotions. It’s a heartwarming story that celebrates the power of imagination and the importance of innocence in a world that can be too cynical at times. And if you’re watching it, make sure to bring a box of tissues because you’ll definitely need it. But hey, don’t worry, just think happy thoughts and take the first star to the right, straight on til morning!
Production Company(ies)
Canal+ Ciné+ El Deseo
Distributor
Miramax Films
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Richmond Theatre, The Green, Richmond, Surrey, England, UK
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG for mild thematic elements and brief language
Year of Release
2004
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital SDDS DTS
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 46m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 24, 2004 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 22, 2005
Genre(s)
Drama/Biography
Keyword(s)
starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Radha Mitchell, Dustin Hoffman, Kelly Macdonald, Freddie Highmore, Joe Prospero, Nick Roud, Luke Spill, Ian Hart, Toby Jones, Eileen Essell, Jimmy Gardner, Oliver Fox, Angus Barnett, Timothy Davies, Matthew Rutherford, Toby Blome, Kali Peacock, Emma Ryan, Paul Whitehouse, directed by Marc Forster, written by David Magee, Allan Knee, produced by Richard N Gladstein, Nellie Bellflower, drama, biography, PG rating, box office gross $51.7M, reviewed by David Ansen, Will Self, Nell Minow, Wally Hammond, Jason Blake, Anthony Quinn, Nikhat Kazmi, Micheal Compton, Debbie Lynn Elias, Paul Dale, Felix Vasquez Jr
Worldwide gross: $116,650,613
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $184,014,757
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 742
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 20,067,040
US/Canada gross: $51,680,613
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $81,525,465
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 852
US/Canada opening weekend: $220,524
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $347,874
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,489
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $25,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $39,437,160
Production budget ranking: 972
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $21,236,911
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $123,340,686
ROI to date (est.): 203%
ROI ranking: 624
Kate Winslet – Sylvia Llewelyn Davies
Julie Christie – Mrs. du Maurier
Radha Mitchell – Mary Barrie
Dustin Hoffman – Charles Frohman
Kelly Macdonald – Peter Pan (in “Peter Pan”)
Director(s)
Marc Forster
Writer(s)
David Magee, Allan Knee
Producer(s)
Richard N. Gladstein, Nellie Bellflower
Film Festivals
Sundance
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
19 wins & 81 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Original Score Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (206) | Top Critics (54) | Fresh (170) | Rotten (36)
Mingling reality and fantasy, Forster has given us a luminous, touching meditation on life and art.
March 13, 2018
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
Wooden, yes, and saccharine, too. Oh, and did I mention the neutered whimsy?
December 26, 2017
Will Self
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Not about Peter Pan, and not a kids’ movie.
December 24, 2010 | Rating: 3/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
Infused by an awkward decorum; the kind that descends on a gathering dominated by an unmentioned death or transgression.
February 9, 2006
Wally Hammond
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Plenty of narrative liberties have been taken. It doesn’t matter a jot. At heart, this isn’t a biography anyway, it’s an ode to the power of the imagination.
January 17, 2006
Jason Blake
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
A nicely played family entertainment with perhaps more mystery than it knows what to do with.
December 6, 2005 | Rating: 3/5
Anthony Quinn
Independent (UK)
TOP CRITIC
It”s a simple lyrical film that celebrates the value of innocence in a world that seems to be fast losing out to cynicism and despair.
February 28, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5
Nikhat Kazmi
The Times of India
Directed by Marc Forster, Finding Neverland is a pretty straightforward film that effectively balances its whimsical child-like moments with its heartfelt emotional conclusion.
November 18, 2019 | Rating: B
Micheal Compton
Bowling Green Daily News
Think happy, happy thoughts and take the first star to the right, straight on til morning.
November 8, 2019
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens
This is a pleasing, old-fashioned tearjerker and a half. Pack a couple of hankies.
April 22, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Paul Dale
The List
A heartfelt, beautiful film, and one of the best dramas I’ve seen in years.
April 29, 2009 | Rating: 3.5/5
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
Like Big Fish and The Neverending Story, this is a film that reminds us that life, coloured by our perceptions, is what we make it; all we have to do is believe.
October 18, 2008
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile…
Plot
1903 London. Renowned playwright J.M. Barrie (James)’s latest effort has garnered less than positive reviews, something he knew would be the case even before the play’s mounting. This failure places pressure on James to write another play quickly as impresario Charles Frohman needs another to replace the failure to keep his theater viable. Out for a walk with his dog in part to let his creative juices flow, James stumbles upon the Llewelyn Davies family: recently widowed Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (the daughter of now deceased author George L. Du Maurier) and her four adolescent sons. James and the family members become friends, largely based on he and the boys being able to foster in each other the imagination of children, James just being the biggest among them in this regard. Sylvia also welcomes James into their lives, he who becomes an important and integral part of it. Among the six of them, the only one who does not want to partake is Sylvia’s third, Peter Llewelyn Davies, who is still grieving the reality of their lives, where his father was there one day planning an outing for the family, and gone the next. Two other people who don’t appreciate James in the Llewelyn Davies’ lives are: his wife, Mary Barrie, who always feels the need to be the responsible one in their relationship and who feels threatened by his friendship with an unmarried woman; and Emma du Maurier, Sylvia’s overbearing mother, who sees him as an obstacle to Sylvia moving on with her life with another potential husband, and an impediment to maintaining discipline within the boys. James still hopes to bring Peter out of his self-imposed shell, but in the process comes up with an idea for another play based on an amalgam of himself and Peter, that play which eventually becomes what Charles sees as a largely unmountable and thus doomed production called “Peter Pan”. This process of helping Peter could take a step backward when it looks like Sylvia may imminently befall a similar fate to that of her late husband.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing to add here about Finding Neverland.
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