FINDING NEVERLAND wows the audience and the critics at the 2004 Venice Film Festival!
FINDING NEVERLAND continues to wow audiences and leave critics searching for superlatives. Mike Goodridge of Screen Daily writes, “Anchored by another knockout performance by Johnny Depp, FINDING NEVERLAND is destined to get plenty of big screen attention later this year. Miramax Films can count on runaway word-of-mouth and big-time returns both on awards podiums and at the box office for Marc Forster’s finely-crafted period tearjerker [. . .].Director Forster, who made his name with another heart-string-puller, MONSTER’S BALL, walks a tightrope between cliche and sentimentality here but manages to avoid too much of both. [. . .] Then again maybe he wouldn’t be so successful if he were working with a lesser actor than Johnny Depp. Adopting a note-perfect upper-crust Scottish accent, the American actor is in almost every scene and he is the model of restraint. He is assured another Oscar nomination for his work.”
Goodridge’s review is typical of the sort of raves Johnny’s portrayal of J. M. Barrie has been receiving from the critics. But at the Venice press conference, Johnny shrugged off the early Oscar buzz. Asked if he was in Venice to help his Oscar chances, Johnny replied, “I don’t know what’s happening; they point me in the direction and tell me to start flapping, and I’m here to flap.” Thanks to DeepinDepp for sharing the interview and to Emma for posting Mike Goodridge’s review. You can read the entire review here but beware–there are plenty of spoilers.