Finding Neverland

While most critics find much to praise about Finding Neverland, starring Johnny Depp as J.M. Barrie, the playwright who created Peter Pan, several who are familiar with the actual course of Barrie's life are suggesting that the movie may be almost as fictional as anything Barrie himself ever wrote. The movie's plot, writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times, hews closer to Disney than Barrie. Jami Bernard in the New York Daily News adds: The movie is so determined to wring laughter and tears -- and it succeeds, there's no question -- that it makes of Barrie's life a fiction on the order of flying children and pirates with hooks for hands. Most of the critics who have not boned up on Barrie's true-life story heap undiluted admiration on it. Philip Wuntch in the Dallas Morning News writes, Despite opportunities to turn soft and clammy, the film is moving but not maudlin, whimsical but not cloying. Originally planned as a fall release, it arrives as one of the holiday season's most irresistible gifts. Most critics regard Depp's performance as Oscar-worthy. Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune suggests that there are few other actors who can play a childman [like Barrie] without seeming effete or precious. ... The absolute ease and empathy with which he plays this part guide us smoothly into the tale's emotional thickets. Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times writes that, for Depp, the movie is the latest in an extraordinary series of performances. ... It is commonplace for actors to play widely differing roles, but Depp never makes it feel like a reach; all of these notes seem well within his range.

One of my favorites!An excellent choice to see!