Best Actor 2004: Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland

Johnny Depp received his second Oscar nomination for portraying J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland.

Finding Neverland is a somewhat enjoyable film I suppose, I do think the fantasy scenes work as well as they really should, but I still did not mind watching it again.

Johnny Depp who usually plays rather strange fellows, many times with a whole lot of mannerisms, which attempts to usual bring a whole lot of attention to his performance. This is a rather unusual Johnny Depp performance because he portrays J.M. Barrie in generally a rather quiet performance. He portrays Barrie in an extremely modest fashion which does not at all try to stand out all that much most of the time. Now I appreciate Depp for not trying to make Barrie flamboyant, but at the same time perhaps his performance is a little too understated.

Depp performance really at times is barely noticeable. He really is an always nice man, who just likes to have a quietly good time with the children of a sick mother (Kate Winslet) well he is quietly writing Peter Pan. Depp I must say does not really suggest must of a man, just a quiet unassuming man. The only time he really acts out at all are the fantasy scenes, but even the he still remains fairly understated. The biggest in terms of acting non-quietly is when he plays pirated with the children, and does a little bit of his Jack Sparrow bit, I did not have a problem with that or how he handled any of the fantasy moments, but I also did not find his performance particularly amazing ever.

Overall Depp's performance really is nothing special. I think it is okay, it serves its purpose in that it allows for a nice scene here and there, but overall really his performance never amounts to anything really worth noting. It is a nice quiet performance, which really fits how Barrie is presented in the film as a nice quiet man. It never really gets deeply into much depth hidden or otherwise about Barrie, he is written simply just to make a simple sweet story, therefore Depp method of portraying him is fine, just not very special.