Main Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Ian McKellen, Brittany Murphy, Nick Nolte, William Hurt
Release Year: 2005
Country: US
Run Time: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
A man seeks to unlock the mysteries of his family's tragic past in this drama. Zach Riley (Aaron Eckhart) is a psychiatrist who has resigned a prestigious position at a major university to take a job at the Millwood Clinic, a private residential facility run by one Dr. Reed (William Hurt). Riley tells Reed he was inspired to come to Millwood by the case of a family friend who was a patient there years before, but what Riley doesn't mention is the person in question was his father, T.L. Pierson (Nick Nolte), a successful but reclusive children's author whose book "Neverwas" became a remarkable critical and popular success. For all his talent and success, Pierson was haunted by mental illness and drug addiction, and after leaving Millwood he committed suicide, with young Zach finding the body. Ever since, his mother (Jessica Lange) has been bitter and blamed Zach for Pierson's death, and he's come to Millbrook looking for answers and closure regarding his dad. While working with the patients at Millwood, Riley strikes up a friendship with Gabriel (Ian McKellen), a charming older man with a poor connection to reality who was friendly with Pierson when they were both in treatment there; Riley also renews his childhood friendship with Maggie Blake (Brittany Murphy), a Millwood intern who was powerfully affected by "Neverwas" when she was young. Neverwas is the first feature film from writer and director Joshua Michael Stern. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Zach Riley (Aaron Eckhart) is a psychiatrist who leaves a job at a prestigious university to take up a job at the privately run mental institution, 'Millwood', belonging to Dr. Reed (William Hurt). What he doesn’t reveal at the time of his appointment is that this was the very place where his novelist father, T.L. Pierson (Nick Nolte), spent many years of his life, and later wrote a popular children’s classic, ‘Neverwas’.
Once there, he meets a schizophrenic patient, Gabriel Finch (Ian McKellen), and soon finds that more things link him to the story, to the book, and also to the recovery of the patient (who believes himself to be a character from the tale) than he ever thought. Ultimately he realises that this was the story he was meant to play a 'Hero' in.[1][2][3]
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