Life as a fairy tale in 'Finding Neverland'

Material That Never Gets Old 100 years of
'Peter Pan' adaptations,
from now to 1904

Nov. 19
"Finding Neverland," the first "Peter Pan" adaptation to center on its author, J.M. Barrie, opens.

2004
Cathy Rigby, the first American woman to win an Olympic medal for gymastics, is currently performing as Peter Pan in Los Angeles with the national stage production tour. Rigby played the part on Broadway in 1991.

2003
The most recent film version of "Peter Pan" was a critical success, a live-action special-effects romp starring Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook. This version focused more on the underlying themes of regret and loss in Barrie's story.

2002
"Return to Neverland," an almost direct-to-video animated comedy, fast forwards to World War II London during the Blitz, when Wendy has a daughter named Jane who must be rescued from Hook.

1991
Steven Spielberg and Robin Williams teamed up to make "Hook" under the premise of "What if Peter Pan grew up?" The all-star cast featured cameos by Glenn Close, Jimmy Buffett, Carrie Fisher and George Lucas. Dustin Hoffman, who plays theater impresario Charles Frohman in "Finding Neverland," plays Hook in this version.

1990
"Peter Pan and the Pirates" debuted on television and was a short-lived animated series featuring Tim Curry as the voice of Hook.

1980
Sandy Duncan tackled the role of Peter Pan in the second Broadway incarnation.

1955 & 1960
Mary Martin won a Tony for originating the role of Pan in the Broadway premiere. After a limited run, Martin and the original cast performed the show on live TV and again for taping five years later. The TV version created a sensation and became one of the top-rated shows of the time.

1953
The original Disney animated film "Peter Pan" debuted. It is the only incarnation of Barrie's story to not use any of the author's original dialogue.

1924
In this silent film version, actress Betty Bronson was selected for the part of Peter by Barrie himself, beating out Gloria Swanson and Mary Pickford.

1911
Barrie adapted the play into a novel titled "Peter and Wendy."

1904
"Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" opened in London at the Duke of York's Theatre and became an instant cultural phenomenon, due in part to its staging that involved audience interaction.

(Source: The Internet Movie Database)

Johnny Depp dons Irish brogue to embody author J.M. Barrie
In the hands of another actor, the role of J.M. Barrie, the Irish author of "Peter Pan," might have been a mandate for pomp. You can almost see Will Ferrell running buck-naked through the cobblestoned streets of 1901 London screaming, with slurred speech, "I've got an idea for a new play - it's about these kids that fly and battle pirates and have a dog named Nana!" But in the capable hands of Johnny Depp, Barrie is a study in restraint. Depp plays the whimsical author as if he's just about to crack a smile, but doesn't.

"Finding Neverland" is about the gestation of Barrie's stage play "Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up," and how a widow and her playful sons act as muses for the author, who is caught in a failing marriage. Barrie meets Sylvia Davies (Kate Winslet) and her sons in Kensington Park. They enter into a symbiotic relationship - Barrie seeks refuge in the innocence and mischievousness of the boys, and the boys adopt Barrie as a surrogate father. As Barrie visits their house, a tacit attraction develops between him and Sylvia. Julie Christie plays Sylvia's mother, who disapproves of the budding relationship between a married man and her recently widowed daughter.

The film is not plot-heavy, and it builds to the premiere of "Peter Pan" and the untimely death of one of the Davies. In between, Barrie and the boys find their own slice of Neverland in a too-harsh world. But the most compelling moments in the film come when reality breaks through, like when Barrie's wife (Radha Mitchell) confronts him about his relationship with the Davies. In an otherwise glossy, kid-friendly movie, the domestic scenes between Depp and Mitchell resound with truth.

Central to "Finding Neverland," though, is finding and fostering a healthy imagination - the Happy Thoughts Theorem, if you will. The film also glows with a child-like innocence. In fact, half the main cast is children. Ten-year-old Freddie Highmore (pictured above opposite Depp) plays Peter Davies, Barrie's inspiration for Peter Pan, with startling professionalism. Highmore's work here rivals film's best young acting; his performance belongs in a league with Anna Paquin in "The Piano," in terms of sheer acting judgment.

But most astonishing is that "Finding Neverland" was directed by Marc Forster, whose last film was "Monster's Ball." Two films could not be more different. "Monster's Ball" was sexually explicit, violent, with zero sentimentality, a gritty drama about human connection in Georgia. "Finding Neverland" drips sentimentality. It is a period piece, with plenty of flowery sets and costumes and teary eyes. And the indicator of a great director is his ability to coax the appropriate performance from children. He succeeds here.

So, in all, there is not a whole lot to dislike. Watching Depp do his slow-burn is fun. Winslet can save any part from mediocrity. Here, she infuses otherwise banal lines with warmth and heart. And Christie, who should make more movies than she does, is a force as Sylvia¡s domineering mother. Though "Finding Neverland" never reaches beyond confectionary, it is true and heartwarming and appealing. It will fit snugly into Hollywood's holiday onslaught.

But despite its commerciality, the Peter Pan story never grows old. Fifty years have passed since Mary Martin brought Pan to the masses on Broadway, and 100 years since the original London opening. But like the children, Barrie's themes have not aged. Though meant for turn-of-the-century England, "Peter Pan" is especially therapeutic for today. We are finding new ways to prolong our lives, but the span of our youth does not stretch with it. All the more reason to think happy thoughts.

Peter Pan Trivia -The word "Neverland" is included in the American Heritage Dictionary and is defined as "an imaginary and wonderful place; a fantasy land." It's also the name of Michael Jackson's mansion near Los Angeles.

-The name "Wendy" was invented by J.M. Barrie based on an associate's young daughter who, unable to pronounce an "R," used to call Barrie "my fwendy."

-The Peter Pan collar - large, rounded collars sported by boys at the turn of the century - became an enduring fashion style.

-A male didn't play Peter Pan on stage until 1982. The role is traditionally played by women, who sing in a higher register.

-The copyright for "Peter Pan" was bequeathed by Barrie to the Great Ormand Street Children's Hospital in England, which has used the substantial proceeds to treat countless needy children over the years.

(Source: Miramax)

Director Marc Forster dodges name game, hits Hollywood

Marc Forster hasn't made a name for himself. But it's not for lack of trying. You just don't see him in his movies. Spielberg films scream "Spielberg!" and Kubrick films scream "Kubrick!" and Forster films scream - well, they don't really scream at all. Forster, the director of "Monster's Ball" and the upcoming "Finding Neverland," has no delusions about his fame - or lack thereof. Audiences will line up for "Finding Neverland" because of its high-profile actors or because it's kid-friendly. And when the masses leave the theater, they will not remember the faceless name positioned under the "a film by" title in the opening credits. And Forster is OK with that. "People will go and see it not because of me," said the German-born, Swiss-raised director in his hotel room at the Ritz in downtown D.C. "If they go see it, it's because of Johnny Depp. ... I don't think people really know me, to be honest. They know 'Monster's Ball,' but they don't know who I am."

Bald and barefoot, wearing jeans and a blue T-shirt, youthful looking, with a bit of a stubble brewing, Forster is sedate, with a calming temperament perfect for a movie set. A 1993 graduate of NYU, he got the "Finding Neverland" job because of the critical and financial success of "Monster's Ball," the brilliant and uncompromising drama that rode Halle Berry's coattails to the Oscars in 2002. He read the "Neverland" script before he filmed "Monster's Ball," but was only considered after his second feature proved a success.

Forster met with Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood mover and shaker. "I told him my vision and I said to him, 'Look, I love this script,'" Forster recalled. "'Whatever happens with it, that's my vision. I have this other project I'm probably going to do next, but I wanted to express to you my passion.'"

His passion paid off. Forster landed the gig, a bigger budget, and a stellar cast led by Depp as "Peter Pan" author J.M. Barrie and Kate Winslet as the woman whose children inspire him to write. Forster relied on real sets in creating the world of turn-of-the-century London. Even with the fantasy sequences, all the camera movements and production design were real, not computer generated.

"It was very important for me that 'Neverland' was all stage built," Forster said. "And it also gave me that feeling of old Technicolor or old movies - how they used to make them. I kind of like that, to make a lot of stuff practical."

The director admits to being flummoxed by the current crop of computer generated-heavy films like "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

"The third one I was sitting through and thinking 'When is this thing ending?'" Forster said, rolling his eyes. "And I'd say to people, 'I'm sitting there and there are like 20 endings!' And people say, "Yeah, but you didn't read the BOOK-" his Swiss-German accent punches the word sarcastically. "'If you read the BOOK, you would understand the ending.'" He laughs, and gives a look that says the BOOK clause is poor compensation for bad technique.

But movies he liked recently include "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "The Motorcycle Diaries." He also reserves affection for Ang Lee, Steven Soderbergh, Lars Von Trier, Fellini, Antonioni and Bergman. And "The Bourne Supremacy" was a guilty pleasure for him earlier this year. "I like all genres," Forster said. "That's what I love about Billy Wilder's career. You know, he can do something like 'Some Like It Hot' and 'Sunset Boulevard' and 'Double Indemnity,' a whole variety of movies. I really love that. Because every time is a challenge and every time you can fail. ... It's a tricky thing."

His next movie is the psychological drama "Stay," starring Ewan MacGregor and Naomi Watts, which will be released next year. After that, he will try his hand at comedy with "Stranger than Fiction." In the meantime, though, Forster is proud of "Finding Neverland" because he had final cut, a luxury afforded less frequently to directors when they work with higher profile films. But Weinstein and Miramax were preoccupied with the hulking productions of "Gangs of New York" and "Cold Mountain" while "Finding Neverland" filmed.

"So there were such big projects with such money involved that we were slipping under the radar because this was made for a small price," said Forster, with the relief of dodging a bullet. "And we had big actors, so it was already profit. So there was low risk involved."

But when the shoot wrapped, "Finding Neverland" goes from artistry to commodity and is now in the care of Miramax and its marketers. Beside Forster is a big "Neverland" poster positioned on an easel, reminding us that this conversation exists to sell a product. The poster is colorful, attractive, and composed mostly of Depp's handsome face.

"Personally, I probably wouldn't have created this kind of poster," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "But I don't care. It's my cut, [Weinstein] gave me all the money I wanted, so he can do whatever he wants selling it."

So there is no marquee-level "A film by Marc Forster" credit typical of a David Lynch or John Woo poster. So what. When the Weinstein gives you creative license and all that matters to you is a good product, there's no need for a say in marketing anyway.