Sweetness that doesn’t turn saccharine is hard to find these days; Finding Neverland hits the mark. Johnny Depp applies his genius for sly whimsy in his portrayal of playwright J. M. Barrie, who finds inspiration for his greatest creation from four lively boys, the sons of widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. Though the friendship threatens his already dwindling marriage, Barrie spends endless hours with the boys, pretending to be pirates or Indians–and gradually the elements of Peter Pan take shape in his mind. The relationship between Barrie and the Llewelyn Davies family sparks both an imagined world and a quiet rebellion against the stuffy forces of respectability, given physical form by Barrie’s resentful wife and Sylvia’s mother. This gentle silliness could have turned to treacle, but Depp and Winslet–along with newcomer Freddie Highmore as one of the boys–keep their feet on the earth while their eyes gaze into their dreams.