Finding Neverland (2004) on Netflix
PG20041h 46mBiographyDramaFamily
In 1903, after his latest play is poorly received, playwright James Matthew Barrie meets Sylvia, a widow, and her four sons in Kensington Gardens. Their games give him ideas for a play.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.6/10218,184 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes83%
Trailer
Plot summary
London, 1903. James Matthew Barrie's latest play, Little Mary, is poorly received. In Kensington Gardens the playwright meets Sylvia, a widow, and her four sons: George, Jack, Peter and Michael. He becomes a daily playmate to the boys and a father figure to them, and their imaginary adventures give him the idea for a play about boys who do not want to grow up. Barrie's wife, Mary, sees little of him. Sylvia's mother, Emma du Maurier, disapproves of the hours he spends with her daughter and grandsons.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Finding Neverland (2004)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Universal Pictures, which owned the film rights to Barrie's original play and was adapting it for cinema the same year, refused to let Miramax Films use scenes from the play if Finding Neverland came out that year; Miramax agreed to delay its release in exchange for the right to reproduce stage scenes.
- Freddie Highmore's performance in Finding Neverland led Depp to suggest him to Tim Burton for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which Highmore played Charlie Bucket and Depp played Willy Wonka.
- The screenplay originally had Hoffman's character, the play's skeptical producer, put on the Captain Hook costume and read some of his lines to show how silly he found them. Hoffman objected, so the scene was rewritten for him to simply read aloud and ridicule character names from the play.
- Eileen Essell, 82 years old at the time, made one of her first feature film appearances in Finding Neverland, and she also followed Depp to a role in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
- For the stage musical's 2015 move to Broadway, Matthew Morrison took over the portrayal of J. M. Barrie, with Kelsey Grammer starring as Charles Frohman and Laura Michelle Kelly reprising her role of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies.
