Finding Neverland

A closer look at the story

Celebrated playwright J.M. Barrie is going through a difficult spell in his career; his inspiration has dried up. Things are not good with his wife either. One day he meets the widowed Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and her four young sons. Before long the family becomes an indispensable part of Barrie's life. Not everyone approves of the closeness, though: both Barrie's wife and the boys' grandmother, Emma du Maurier, object to the friendship. Barrie, for his part, turns hillsides into ships, sticks into swords, kites into fairies and the boys themselves into the Lost Boys of Neverland in the games he plays with them. Those imaginative games will lead him to write his greatest work, Peter Pan. Directed by Marc Forster and written by David Magee, the 106-minute 2004 film stars Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie and Dustin Hoffman in a moving drama.