Siskoid

If you don't tear up through 50-75% of Christopher Robin, you may be a Woozle. Made, I suspect, more for adults who saw/read/loved Winnie the Pooh as kids, than for their children (I'll come back to that), Marc Forster's Pooh film has a nostalgic melancholy throughout that speaks to grown-up Christopher's own post-childhood, post-war malaise, and his need to connect back to that childhood so he can better connect with his family. If you subscribe to the psychological analysis of the Pooh stories, where each animal is a sliver of Christopher's psyche, then he has been overtaken by his inner Heffalump. The movie doesn't shy away from the sadness and is quite earnest in its sentimentality. Tonally, it's in line with the original stories, as is its comedy, part slapstick, part wordplay, all quite charming, and even in faster-paced scenes, gentle in a way most modern CG/part-CG family films aren't. And the animal characters are rather wonderful. Pooh is impossibly touching. Eeyore very funny. The others don't play as large a role, but all feel right. If I don't think it was necessarily made for today's kids, I don't mean they can't enjoy it, but it is rather quiet compared to similar fare (this year's Paddington 2 and Peter Rabbit, which I both loved as well, are more frenetic). I always cringe when workplace drama and "the big meeting" climax are inserted into these kinds of films, as much because it's a cliché as because I can hear bored children rustling in their seats. Christopher Robin finds a good balance (the film does, the character has trouble with exactly that) between the strictly human scenes (where you lose the younger kids who don't care about marital, parental, or work problems) and lovable stuffed animal shenanigans. I think I'm gonna go talk to my own stuffed animal now, a white dog I've kept because I was given it when I was born. I'll be right back.

6 years ago

Kenneth McMahon

Gentle, enjoyable film dealing with the loss of innocence as we grow older and end up spending our time doing things we'd rather not be doing, instead of just having fun.

6 years ago

ntan

The film plays out much like Eeyore floating down the river. It's a gently pleasant ride - even if you know where it ends up going.

I absolutely loved it though. I found it very funny, much funnier than people give it credit for. Everything that came out of Pooh and Eeyore's mouths either had me laughing or crying.

This is what happens when you spend time constructing the right story with great screenwriters, among them Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) and Allison Schroeder (Hidden Figures), both Oscar nominated for the writing of those films.

It grabs its theme (work vs. family) and runs with it, offering plenty of genuine, thought-provoking drama paired with the endlessly lovable Pooh bear.

8.5/10

6 years ago

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