lochnessmummy
Joined Jan 2003
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Reviews23
lochnessmummy's rating
Every holiday season Harvey Weinstein and Miramax talk up one of their properties, fully expecting everyone to bow and throw awards at it as soon as it's released. This year it's Finding Neverland, which has produced a lot of buzz in favor of Johnny Depp's sophisticated performance. Although the film deserves all the praise it gets, it is understandable that moviegoers are a little weary with another dramatic period piece, with another "oscar caliber" cast, about yet another take on Peter Pan.
The bottom line is, this movie is phenomenal. Exploring the major theme of Barrie's play (that of a boy who never grows up), Finding Neverland refrains from condemning grown-ups, but exalts the wild magic one can enjoy as a kid. For James, who had to deal with his family's reticence upon the death of his brother, the real tragedy occurs when a child is forced to grow up too fast.
My favorite idea from this film is this: life finds a way to put into our lives the people we're supposed to be living our lives with. James and Sylvia needed each other, and they needed each other at that particular time. Life took care of them.
The film does indeed move at a snail's pace. Consider that part of the set design. Just as the characters go about 1905 London in top hats and buttoned-down gowns, so does the movie develop in a manner which would have been fitting for a time which preceded MTV-generation attention spans by about a hundred years.
As for the acting, it is wonderful. Depp is understated and gallant, Kate Winslet is lovely and tragic, and they're both better than I've ever seen them. Julie Christie is brutally ominous as the matriarch who can gum up everyone's happiness. Dustin Hoffman, although out of place, brings a dry wit as a risk-taking businessman. The boys playing the Davis kids are a lot of fun to watch and play their dramatic parts perfectly.
If you want something where all the pieces of the magic puzzle that is movie-making come together with grace, charm, and humanity, you won't find a more rewarding film than this.
The bottom line is, this movie is phenomenal. Exploring the major theme of Barrie's play (that of a boy who never grows up), Finding Neverland refrains from condemning grown-ups, but exalts the wild magic one can enjoy as a kid. For James, who had to deal with his family's reticence upon the death of his brother, the real tragedy occurs when a child is forced to grow up too fast.
My favorite idea from this film is this: life finds a way to put into our lives the people we're supposed to be living our lives with. James and Sylvia needed each other, and they needed each other at that particular time. Life took care of them.
The film does indeed move at a snail's pace. Consider that part of the set design. Just as the characters go about 1905 London in top hats and buttoned-down gowns, so does the movie develop in a manner which would have been fitting for a time which preceded MTV-generation attention spans by about a hundred years.
As for the acting, it is wonderful. Depp is understated and gallant, Kate Winslet is lovely and tragic, and they're both better than I've ever seen them. Julie Christie is brutally ominous as the matriarch who can gum up everyone's happiness. Dustin Hoffman, although out of place, brings a dry wit as a risk-taking businessman. The boys playing the Davis kids are a lot of fun to watch and play their dramatic parts perfectly.
If you want something where all the pieces of the magic puzzle that is movie-making come together with grace, charm, and humanity, you won't find a more rewarding film than this.
An entertaining film that has fun with the deep and perplexing applications of existentialism. It's directed well, with a fast pace and a lean towards dry irony. The acting is terrific all around --even Dustin Hoffman delivers (which hasn't happened in a long time)
Folks who work through Hollywood ought to see this movie a couple of times and get to know and understand the tenets of the philosophy. People in the real world should simply enjoy it as a fun movie --they already understand the philosophy, and what's missing from it.
Here' how the film measures up against others that toy around with existentialism: 1)Huckabees is a better film than Adaptation. 2)What the Bleep Do We Know? is more user-friendly than Huckabees. 3)Being John Malkovich is much more fun than Huckabees. 4)Huckabees is less weighty than Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.
Like any well-done philosophy movie, this one raises endless compelling questions. This one is my favorite: Where does each of the characters get some (i.e.: sex), and how does that affect his/her outlook?
Folks who work through Hollywood ought to see this movie a couple of times and get to know and understand the tenets of the philosophy. People in the real world should simply enjoy it as a fun movie --they already understand the philosophy, and what's missing from it.
Here' how the film measures up against others that toy around with existentialism: 1)Huckabees is a better film than Adaptation. 2)What the Bleep Do We Know? is more user-friendly than Huckabees. 3)Being John Malkovich is much more fun than Huckabees. 4)Huckabees is less weighty than Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead.
Like any well-done philosophy movie, this one raises endless compelling questions. This one is my favorite: Where does each of the characters get some (i.e.: sex), and how does that affect his/her outlook?
The correct title of this film should be The Commune.
It's telling that two of the main actors in this movie are William Hurt and Sigorney Weaver --two aging hippies performing characters who live out the flower power ideal. The Village isn't centered around a turn-of-the-century village, but a contemporary hippie commune, filled with frustrated whimps who are too afraid of death to deal with life. The main point of the film is that you can't run away from tragedy, yet these spineless folk tune themselves out completely, bringing their clueless children with them. As a result, they end up with kids who live in mortal fear of ketchup, but seem strangely comforted by mustard. --and none of this nonsense is scary. Crosby, Stills, and Nash once sang, "Teach your parents well." These grown-ups should be whacked with a paddle.
One more thing: there are no "monsters" in this movie. It's all a lie (in more ways than one). I thought hollywood had gotten past the stage of resolving the story with, "it was all a dream." Apparently not. The Village teases us with glimpses of something supernatural, before it totally deflates us with something maddeningly mundane. What a cop-out.
Bryce Dallas Howard though, is this film's saving grace. Let none of this rant (or the awful movie it scorns) take away from her sublime, heartbreaking, and inspiring performance. She was wonderful.
It's telling that two of the main actors in this movie are William Hurt and Sigorney Weaver --two aging hippies performing characters who live out the flower power ideal. The Village isn't centered around a turn-of-the-century village, but a contemporary hippie commune, filled with frustrated whimps who are too afraid of death to deal with life. The main point of the film is that you can't run away from tragedy, yet these spineless folk tune themselves out completely, bringing their clueless children with them. As a result, they end up with kids who live in mortal fear of ketchup, but seem strangely comforted by mustard. --and none of this nonsense is scary. Crosby, Stills, and Nash once sang, "Teach your parents well." These grown-ups should be whacked with a paddle.
One more thing: there are no "monsters" in this movie. It's all a lie (in more ways than one). I thought hollywood had gotten past the stage of resolving the story with, "it was all a dream." Apparently not. The Village teases us with glimpses of something supernatural, before it totally deflates us with something maddeningly mundane. What a cop-out.
Bryce Dallas Howard though, is this film's saving grace. Let none of this rant (or the awful movie it scorns) take away from her sublime, heartbreaking, and inspiring performance. She was wonderful.