'Finding' an elegant achievement

Marc Forster's last project, "Monster's Ball," was an exposed, raw, throbbing nerve of a film with gut-wrenching if somewhat overpraised performances and a harsh, despondent worldview, which is why the elegance and lighthearted assuredness of his next project, "Finding Neverland," is such a surprising turn of style.\n"Finding Neverland" is the story of J.M. Barrie, the turn-of-the-century playwright who created the original incarnation of Peter Pan while being inspired by the hard times and high hopes of his neighbors, the Davies family, with whom Barrie shares his daydreams and original ideas. The Davies children, especially young Peter (the precocious Freddie Highmore, who will star alongside Depp this summer as Charlie Bucket to Depp's Willy Wonka), become quite dear to Barrie, and his wish that these children could live in eternal youth, without a care in their minds, translates to the moral at the heart of his new play.\nJohnny Depp portrays outlandish eccentrics better than almost anyone in Hollywood today, and while his embodiment of Barrie is understated and subtle compared to the ostentation of Ed Wood, Jack Sparrow or even his eerie Ichabod Crane, he still exudes a contagious air of whimsy while grounding Barrie's own fantasy world firmly within the realm of reality. As we see the world as it exists in Barrie's eyes, Depp glides through the performance with a confidence that assured him an Oscar nomination at this past ceremony.\nFeatures on this single-disc edition include a marginally effective commentary track by director Forster and screenwriter David Magee, a few deleted scenes that were wisely left on the cutting room floor, and "Creating Neverland," a standard making-of doc with a smattering of insightful cast interviews.\n"Finding Neverland" is one of those rare films that have the ability to tug on one's heartstrings without sappy trickery or subversive manipulation. J.M. Barrie once insisted that a smidge of simple fantasy can always outmuscle the overwhelming weight of the world, and this film makes you believe that, if only for a brief time.