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IMDbPro

Neverwas

  • 20052005
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 43m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
6.9K
YOUR RATING
Aaron Eckhart, Ian McKellen, and Brittany Murphy in Neverwas (2005)
Home Video Trailer from Miramax
Play trailer2:04
2 Videos
12 Photos
DramaFantasyMystery
A psychiatrist searches for insight into the life of his father, who was an acclaimed children's author. But he is shocked when his journey leads him to believe that the fantasy-land his fat... Read allA psychiatrist searches for insight into the life of his father, who was an acclaimed children's author. But he is shocked when his journey leads him to believe that the fantasy-land his father wrote about might actually exist.A psychiatrist searches for insight into the life of his father, who was an acclaimed children's author. But he is shocked when his journey leads him to believe that the fantasy-land his father wrote about might actually exist.
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
6.9K
YOUR RATING
    • Joshua Michael Stern
    • Joshua Michael Stern
  • Stars
    • Aaron Eckhart
    • Ian McKellen
    • Brittany Murphy
    • Joshua Michael Stern
    • Joshua Michael Stern
  • Stars
    • Aaron Eckhart
    • Ian McKellen
    • Brittany Murphy
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 44User reviews
    • 14Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos2

    Neverwas
    Trailer 2:04
    Watch Neverwas
    Neverwas
    Trailer 2:09
    Watch Neverwas

    Photos12

    Aaron Eckhart in Neverwas (2005)
    Aaron Eckhart and Ian McKellen in Neverwas (2005)
    Brittany Murphy in Neverwas (2005)
    Aaron Eckhart and Ian McKellen in Neverwas (2005)
    Neverwas Piersons door
    Neverwas castle window
    Neverwas castle, built of found items
    Sean Hargreaves in Neverwas (2005)
    Sean Hargreaves in Neverwas (2005)
    Aaron Eckhart, Ian McKellen, and Brittany Murphy in Neverwas (2005)
    Aaron Eckhart, Ian McKellen, and Brittany Murphy in Neverwas (2005)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Aaron Eckhart
    Aaron Eckhart
    • Zach Riley
    Ian McKellen
    Ian McKellen
    • Gabriel Finch
    Brittany Murphy
    Brittany Murphy
    • Maggie Paige
    Nick Nolte
    Nick Nolte
    • T.L. Pierson
    Jessica Lange
    Jessica Lange
    • Katherine Pierson
    William Hurt
    William Hurt
    • Dr. Peter Reed
    Bill Bellamy
    Bill Bellamy
    • Martin Sands
    Alan Cumming
    Alan Cumming
    • Jake
    Vera Farmiga
    Vera Farmiga
    • Eleanna
    Michael Moriarty
    Michael Moriarty
    • Dick
    Ken Roberts
    • Terrence
    Cynthia Stevenson
    Cynthia Stevenson
    • Sally
    Lorena Gale
    Lorena Gale
    • Judy
    Tabitha St. Germain
    Tabitha St. Germain
    • Receptionist
    Tim Henry
    Tim Henry
    • Husky Sheriff
    Joe Macaluso
    • Deputy Sheriff
    Andrew Airlie
    Andrew Airlie
    • Head Editor
    Eileen Pedde
    Eileen Pedde
    • Waitress
      • Joshua Michael Stern
      • Joshua Michael Stern
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Sir Ian McKellen and Alan Cumming appeared in X2: X-Men United (2003) and Eighteen (2005).
    • Goofs
      The dream sequence in the beginning shows the young Zachary with huge brown eyes - the adult Zachary has blue eyes.
    • Quotes

      T.L. Pierson: Of all the things one says and does, I look back on what never was / Then think of all that life could be, if I could capture what I see.

    • Soundtracks
      The Catch
      Written by Nyles Lannon

      Performed by Nyles Lannon

      Courtesy of Xtra Gravy

    User reviews44

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    Making the Ordinary and the 'Unordinary' Extraordinary
    NEVERWAS, a little miracle of a movie written and directed by Joshua Michael Stern, is an allegory, a fairytale, a dissection of the impact of mental illness on parents and children, and story of compassion, believing, and blossoming of character that was created with a sterling ensemble of actors in 2005, failed to find a niche in theatrical distribution, and went straight to DVD - becoming one of those limited release films that is very elusive even in the megavideo stores. The reasons for this relative anonymity are not clear, but film lovers will do well searching out this little gem: the rewards are immediate gratification and long lasting satisfaction.

    Narrated by Ian McKellan who plays a major role in the film, the story concerns the return of psychiatrist Zachary Riley/Small (Aaron Eckhart) to an obsolete mental institution named Millhouse, the hospital where his author father T.L. Pierson (Nick Nolte) ended his days in suicide, having suffered from bipolar syndrome. Zach wants to discover secrets about his father, why his father's book 'Neverwas' has been so disturbing to Zach, and to offer good medical treatment to those patients living in the obscure hospital run by the kindly but enigmatic Dr. Reed (William Hurt). Zach is buoyant, greets his new job with joy, and works with various patients in group and individual therapy (the group includes well developed characters portrayed by Alan Cumming, Vera Farmiga, and Michael Moriarty, among others) and encounters the apparently mute Gabriel Finch (Ian McKellan), a delusional man who believes Zach has returned to break the curse preventing his return to his imaginary kingdom of Neverwas.

    Zach meets a 'grad student botantist'/reporter Ally (Brittany Murphy) who loves Zach's father's book and urges Zach to read the fairytale as a means to assuage Zach's new nightly nightmares and insomnia dealing with images of himself as a child, his father's suicide, and other strange forces. Ally's commitment to Zach's father's book, Zach's breakthrough to Gabriel Finch, together with Zach's re-evaluation of his agoraphobic mother (Jessica Lange) all intertwine to reestablish Zach's discovery of his relationship to a father whose mental illness prevented the close relationship Zach so desperately missed. In a tumbling set of events that incorporate the fairytale of the book Neverwas with the reality of Zach's father's relationship to Gabriel Finch brings the story to a heartwarming, well considered, touching conclusion. Being 'unordinary' is a goal, not a curse.

    In addition to the above-mentioned stellar cast, small parts are also created by Bill Bellamy, Ken Roberts, Cynthia Stevenson among others. The cinematography by Michael Grady manages to keep the audience balanced between real and fantasy and the musical score by renowned composer Philip Glass fits the story like a glove. Ian McKellan gives a multifaceted performance of a man whose delusional life is far more real than his life as a mental patient, Aaron Eckhart finesses the transformation of the lost child seeking his roots with great skill, Nick Nolte gives one of his finer interpretations as the disturbed father/author, and Brittany Murphy manages to maintain a much needed lightness to the atmosphere of the mental institution story setting. The impact of the film, while absorbing from the first images, is the ending, a reinforcement of the importance of love and nurturing that too often is relegated to little books for children instead of the manner in which we live our lives. This is a fine film well worth ferreting out from the obscurity to which it so unjustly has been assigned. Grady Harp
    helpful•42
    10
    • gradyharp
    • Oct 1, 2007

    Details

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    • Release date
      • August 4, 2006 (Bulgaria)
      • Canada
      • Official site
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
    • Production companies
      • Kingsgate Films
      • Legacy Filmworks
      • Neverwas Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 43 minutes
      • Color
      • Dolby Digital

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