This is not the usual sort of movie I review here, it’s not a sweeping historic romance, there are no beautiful costumes or elegant sets. It takes place in the real world and is about modern themes, yet it is probably the most magical film I’ve seen in years.

Neverwas is the story of Zach Riley, the son of a famous childrens author, who takes a job in a psychiatric institution where his father once stayed. There he meets the group of patients he is to work with including Gabriel an elderly man who has never uttered a word to any therapist. Gabriel, however, seems to recognize him and believe that he is a part of the fantasy world that forms his delsusions. After some time, Zach realises that Gabriel’s world is the same as the one his Father wrote about, the magical land of Neverwas, and it may not be so imaginary after all.

There is a lot more to the plot than that, but its hard to say without spoiling the film. The acting in Neverwas is superb, Ian McKellen is perfect as Gabriel and Aaron Eckhart plays a great contrast as Zach. All of the characters have so much emotional depth and are played without a hint of judgement for their parts. I really loved the way Gabriel is portrayed, not mocked or stereotyped but given real depth, leaving it up to you to judge what is real and what is not.

This film is about Fairy Tales, and the way we create them out of our own stories, how they can protect us and give us something to hold on to. What is real in the world, is sometimes not as important as what is real in our hearts. I thoroughly reccommend this rare gem of a movie, but warn you that it contains quite strong themes and is probably not suitable for younger viewers, its very intense and made me cry with both joy and empathy. It’s not often that a film moves me to that extent. A really beautiful, touching story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 8:53 am and is filed under Inspirations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.