Review of Neverwas

Had the plot to NEVERWAS not been so contrived and stuffed with melodramatic subplots and themes, this film might have worked. Ever-so-slowly discovering that an author of a famous children's fantasy stole the creation from a mental patient and allowing the late thief's son to unwittingly become the detective is story enough. That there was an actual place underlying the mental patient's fantasy, that events gives son some closure and subtle messages like "we all create our own kingdoms", etc., can be interesting and accepted with cleverness and deft touch.

Instead NEVERWAS pounds themes, circumstances and profundity into our brains until we become weary. Why not have made son a wash-out who came to work at the institution out of desperation? Instead of making the heroine a clandestine reporter, why not just a local lass whose obsession with the famous kid tale parallel's the mental patient; i.e., how we all live in fantasy worlds, though to different degrees. Why not just toss mom's character along with the characterization given to the other mental patients or to the institute's chief?

The all star cast is simply inexplicable and, with the exception of McKellum, unnecessary. In the end, NEVERWAS is enjoyable, though its dinner at a four-star restaurant when all you needed was a slice of pizza.