‘Express’ breaks the Christmas movie mold

JIM ERWIN

I’m not a big fan of children’s movies or Christmas movies. In

general, I’m allergic to both genres. I’m not as bad as a friend back

in Detroit who says his favorite Christmas movie is the World War II

story “Stalag 17,” starring William Holden and Otto Preminger, but I

completely understand his sentiment.

So, much to my surprise, I found the new animated Christmas movie

“Polar Express” to be completely entertaining and enjoyable. Don’t

let the G rating fool you. This is a sophisticated story with

interesting characters. It’s not just another kid’s movie.

Something that’s really nice about “Polar Express” is that it

isn’t just an empty showcase for spectacular visuals. This is a great

story with great characters. A boy who’s just getting old enough to

figure out that Mom and Dad are Santa Claus is faced with a dilemma.

Should he continue to believe what he knows isn’t true?

On Christmas Eve he’s offered a ride to the North Pole on a huge

magical train. No one forces the boy to get on the train. It’s his

choice. When he gets to the North Pole, he can decide for himself

whether Santa is real. On board the train, he meets an assortment of

characters, including a wise little girl, a vulnerable smaller boy, a

conductor with a special talent for punching tickets and a hobo who

sees himself as King of the North Pole. All the while, he’s got to

decide for himself whether or not to believe in Santa.

This brings up one of my pet peeves about most Christmas movies. I

hate sentimentality without real meaning. The idea that happiness

comes from just mindlessly believing in Santa and an empty brain

means more joy has never given me a rosy holiday glow.

“Polar Express” doesn’t fall into this trap, and that’s part of

the reason why I love this movie. The hero boy learns that Santa

Claus and sleigh bells are symbols and reminders that Christmas

spirit comes from optimism, trust, and caring. Like getting on the

“Polar Express” and deciding whether there is a Santa, embracing this

spirit is your choice. It’s a sentimental message, but free will

trumps blind faith every day of the week.

Another reason I love this movie is Tom Hanks. “Polar Express” is

a showcase for his energy and talent. He plays at least half of the

cast, but makes every character special and unique. There are a

couple of characters who resemble Hanks physically, but those aren’t

the only ones that use his voice. It was a surprise to me to see in

the credits that the young hero boy is played by Hanks.

By now, I think everyone has heard about the 3D motion capture

animation, and how the characters in “Polar Express” almost look like

live actors. The newness of this look is distracting for the first

few minutes of the movie. However, once you get sucked into the story

you won’t care. You’ll be more concerned about the characters’

thoughts and feelings than the way they were drawn.

The one thing that makes all of the characters a little odd is

that they don’t have facial expressions. They have realistic body

movements, but no subtle facial movements. This makes them look a

little soulless and eerie when you see a clip of the movie out of

context on TV. Again, after a couple of minutes of watching the movie

in the theater, you’ll forget all about some movie critic saying the

animated children look scary.

I went to see the IMAX 3D version of “Polar Express” and a lot of

the movie lends itself to this format. There’s some really fun stuff,

like the way the snow gently falls off the screen and on to the rows

of people sitting in front of you. If you love roller coasters, the

train takes some hills that will make you feel like you’ve gone to

Magic Mountain.

My hope is that Warner Brothers will re-release the IMAX 3D

version of this movie every year at Christmas.

I’m recommending “Polar Express” to all of my friends who have

kids. Do yourself a favor and watch this with them. If you just drop

the kids off at the theater and wander into the mall to shop, you’ll

be missing out on something really special.

* JIM ERWIN, 40, is a technical writer and computer trainer.

‘Neverland’ becomes real with Depp

It is somewhat remarkable that a film such as “Finding Neverland”

ever makes it to the screen. In essence, it is the story of author

and playwright James Matthew Barrie, primarily remembered for a

single work, “Peter Pan,” and his then-controversial relationship

with the four boys of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, the daughter of a

novelist.

Nonetheless, with a well-written script and suburb acting by an

excellent cast, “Finding Neverland” is a riveting treatise on the

artistic process and the delicate nature of youthful innocence.

In the early 1900s, Barrie (Johnny Depp) was a successful Scottish

playwright and author living in London. As the film opens, his latest

effort has failed miserably and closes after just a few performances.

Barrie’s financial backer, American impresario Charles Frohman

(Dustin Hoffman), is understandably disappointed, but being a decent

sort, he keeps the actors on payroll and honors his lease on the

theater. Frohman beseeches Barrie to hurriedly write another play in

order to recover some of his investment.

Barrie returns home to his former wife Mary (Radha Mitchell), with

whom he has an obviously strained relationship. The Barries live in

the formal manner of a wealthy British couple of the period, wearing

formal dress to dinner and sleeping in separate bedrooms.

He spends his days alone in a nearby park, making cryptic notes in

a leather bound journal. One day, he encounters four young boys

playing an imaginative game involving medieval knights. He is drawn

by the boys’ innocence and soon begins to spend his entire day with

them and their mother Sylvia (Kate Winslet), recently widowed and

struggling to provide a structured life for her brood.

Barrie essentially becomes a fifth child, albeit the leader, and

the plots and characters he invents while playing with them

eventually evolves into “Peter Pan.”

Barrie’s closeness with Sylvia and her sons is considered

scandalous and soon prompts rumors of an affair, and possibly even

pedophilia. Particularly opposed to their relationship is Barrie’s

wife Mary and Sylvia’s mother Mrs. Emma du Maurier (Julie Christie).

It is apparent that Barrie’s marriage is at stake if he doesn’t at

least limit his contact with the family. However, he is unable to do

so and Mary eventually leaves him.

Emma du Maurier is another matter entirely. Seeing her daughter’s

chances to reestablish herself in polite society being destroyed by

her unseemly relationship with Barrie, Emma moves in with Sylvia and

makes every attempt to bar the playwright from the premises. When

Sylvia contracts a mysterious illness, her oldest son George stands

up to her mother and Barrie is once again a part of their lives.

While happy to be a part of the family again, Barrie is saddened by

what he sees as the end of George’s boyhood.

Of course, “Peter Pan” is a smashing success and all of London is

at Barrie’s feet. Large snippets of the play are seen in the movie

and it is easy to see why the staging was so revolutionary for its

time. At the premiere, Barrie cleverly placed 25 orphans throughout

the theater to prompt the adults to laugh and be awestruck.

The screenplay by David Magee (based on Allan Knee’s play) and the

direction of Marc Forester (“Monster’s Ball”) changes the facts of

the real story for dramatic effect. Sylvia’s husband was actually

alive at the beginning of her relationship with Barrie and greatly

disapproved of Barrie’s involvement with his family. Also, Sylvia’s

illness took longer to progress and there was a fifth son and a

daughter not mentioned. By compressing the story, the essence of

Barrie’s love for Sylvia and her children is less threatening and

more platonic and innocent.

Depp and Sean Penn are arguably the two best actors of their

generation. However, when one considers the incredible range of roles

Depp has played in his career, I believe he must be considered

preeminent. Depp so completely becomes his character in every role;

he is not associated with any single persona. It is hard to imagine

Depp being typecast when he can play anything from the outrageous

Captain Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean” to the soft-spoken

and highly thoughtful J.M. Barrie in this film.

In fact, it is Depp’s thoughtful and poignant portrayal of Barrie

that makes “Finding Neverland” the moving and believable film that it

is. Depp’s Barrie seems completely natural as the playmate of these

young boys and committed friend to their mother with no other motive

than to immerse himself in their exuberant innocence. While “Peter

Pan” has come to negatively characterize a grown man refusing to

accept his adult responsibilities, it is clear the author of this

great play merely longed for the unfettered joy of boyhood and

nothing more.

* VAN NOVACK, 50, is the director of institutional research at Cal

State Long Beach and lives in Huntington Beach with his wife

Elizabeth.