You may not be surprised to hear that this little seen pseudo-fantasy film by virtually unknown writer/director Joshua Michael Stern took 2 years to reach DVD, big deal, right, for a film no one’s heard of. On the other hand, it is quite surprising that this films stars Ian McKellen, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Nolte, Brittany Murphy, William Hurt, Jessica Lange, and Alan Cumming, and those aren’t bit cameos either, that’s the actual cast of the film. How this film came together with that cast is a mystery to me and automatically raises a red flag that this is a film some of the cast wish never-was. But in the end, I found Neverwas to be a nice little film that could be worth you time.

Zach Reily (Eckhart) is a man haunted by the suicide of his father (Nolte). As a child, Zach has memories of his father (told via flashbacks throughout the film) as a resident of Millwood, a local psychiatric institution. As an adult and well-established young psychiatrist, Zach takes a job at Millwood, hoping to help those who, like his father may not be recieving the help they need at Millwood. Dr Reed (Hurt) hesitantly hires Zach at Millwood, giving him the chance to explore the demons of his father’s past.

As we learn, Zach’s father was a novelist and had written a beloved children’s story called “Neverwas”. “Neverwas” was the story of a young boy named Zach (based on his son, of course) who must help the king of Neverwas free his kingdom. When Zach begins taking over group therapy sessions at Millwood, he is greeted by Gabriel (McKellen) who claims that he is the king of Neverwas (an actual place) and that he has been awaiting Zach’s arrival to help him save his kingdom. It’s an interesting concept presented here. We are left to question whether or not Gabriel is just creating delusions based on the storybook, or if in fact, there is another world that needs saving.

The further Zach gets into exploring his father’s past alongside Gabriel’s fantastic cries for Zach’s help, the blurrier the lines seem to get between what may or may not be the reality of the situation.  As the story gets slightly more convoluted, the storytelling gets more heavy-handed, and that, to me, was the downfall of the film.  The film was trying to do too much in some areas, but not enough in others (the fantasy aspect in particular). Fortunetely the strong cast kept it from being more than just made-for-TV movie fodder and there is a decent light-hearted story beneath a few unnecessary sub-plots.

Video

Shot with a fairly muted color palette, Neverwas is filled with warm autumn tones. This gives it  a nice, subtle fairy tale look that was soft, but pleasing nonetheless.  Because of this choice of style, details were verging on washed out, but all in all, I found it an excellent transfer, free of any artifacts or other annoyances.

Audio

Buried behind the dialog was a light score by the Oscar nominated composer Phillip Glass. The score was definitely another reason this film wasn’t completely D.O.A. as it added some depth when the film desperately needed it. The mix was adequate with a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack. There was very little use of the rear channels, and the dialog was clear throughout.

Extras

None. A commentary by the writer/director seems more that appropriate for a film like this, but was nowhere to be found.

Overall

If you’re looking for a family friendly fantasy film, Neverwas isn’t it. Not that it wouldn’t be family friendly, but its probably something that would bore the kids as it tends to revolve more around a psychiatric ward than a scenic foreign land. However if you can overlook it’s faults, Neverwas is certainly worth a rental as the concept is decent enough to carry the film and the acting is strong throughout. It’s also much more light-hearted than something like Bridge to Terabithia yet still retains some heart-warming charm.