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Zach Riley (Aaron Eckhart, Thank You for Smoking)
is a psychologist who applies for a position at small mental
institution. He is grossly over-qualified for the job and the chief
doctor, Peter Reed (William Hurt), is reluctant to hire him, as he
questions Zach’s motivations – after all, Zach’s long-dead father, the
noted children’s novelist TL Pierson (Nick Nolte), was once a patient
at the institute. But Zach gives Dr Reed a convincing spiel and gets
the position.
Zach is running his first therapy session when a
patient, Gabriel Finch (Ian McKellen), says something to him. The rest
of the staff are astonished – Gabriel hasn’t spoken in years. Around
this same time, Zach chances a meeting with an attractive young girl,
Ally (Brittany Murphy) who is a huge fan of Zach’s dad’s fairytale
book, Neverwas.
Between Ally and the institute’s records, Zach
(and the viewer) begins to learn more about his eccentric,
booze-guzzling father. Gabriel also opens up and ranting becomes more
and more deluded – he thinks he is the king of Neverwas and that
Pierson based his book on him and his kingdom. But is Gabriel really
off his rocker, or could his delusion be steeped in fact?
Neverwas
weaves psychology, human drama and a child’s wonderment into an
intricate cinematic tapestry. As well as its interesting comment on the
nature of insanity, it also examines the fine (and sometimes blurred)
line between mental instability and creativity.
Aaron Eckhart
gives yet another fine performance, imbuing Zach with just the right
balance of cockiness, amiableness and vulnerability. Ian McKellen is in
his quirky element as Gabriel, and Nick Nolte doesn't need to act much
to play Zach’s grizzled, unstable father. The weak acting link (and
this is fast becoming a pattern) is Brittany Murphy – all her
characters have a sameness that has nothing to do with the scripts.
Perhaps it’s her distinctive features, but no matter who she plays, she
seems to be Brittany Murphy.
But that’s nothing more than a quibble – Neverwas is a rich viewing experience and one that deserved a theatrical release. Let’s make up for that with the DVD.
EXTRAS
Not
surprisingly there's no extras on offer here, considering it was a
relative no show at the Box Office (not even earning a release in most
countries).
None the less, worth a look in this era of adult Fairy Tales. Conclusion:
Movie 80% Extras: N/A
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