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2005, Rated PG-13 Ivy League-educated psychiatrist Zach Riley (Aaron Eckhart) takes a job at the institution where his father (Nick Nolte), a celebrated children's fantasy novelist, stayed prior to his death.Zach embarks on a quest to learn about his father's final days and discovers the secrets of the fantasy world his father created in his most famous work, Neverwas. The secrets involve a fellow resident named Gabriel (Sir Ian McKellan) who remains in long-term care at the institution. The film, written and directed by Joshua Michael Stern, takes full advantage of the casting of McKellan, best known for his work in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The X-Men, but wastes the talents of William Hurt, Jessica Lange and a surprisingly good Brittany Murphy. Yet it is Eckhart who feels the most underused, despite the fact that he is the center of the story. Eckhart has a dark, brooding core that never gets tapped here because Neverwas aims for sweet sentimentality. A Fisher King-styled approach would have been a better to maximize the star-producer's potential. Grade: C-
