Peter Pan (2003)

Teases out the buried subtexts of J.M. Barrie's classic story, for better and for worse; though it isn't afraid to deal with the burgeoning sexuality that runs throughout the tale, it still wishes to be a kid's film as well. Thus, we're given a centaur film -- imagine if you grafted The Company of Wolves onto a Fairy Tale Theater production of "Little Red Riding Hood" and you're getting close to what we have here. Not bad at times, with a fine performance from newcomer Rachel Hurd-Wood and an engaging, fun turn from Ludivine Sagnier as Tinkerbell. It's certainly worth a look for the curious (Roger Ebert wasn't kidding when he called this the saddest version on record)... but the fact remains that essentially this is a film made for no one in particular. (There's also the small matter of Jeremy Sumpter's awful performance in the title role -- his smirky, tone-deaf delivery occasionally make Peter look like nothing more than a prepubescent psychotic.)

Grade: C+