Movie Review: 'Christopher Robin' is Sweet As Honey

Pooh (voice of Jim Cummings) and Christopher (Ewan McGregor) Return to the 100 Acre Wood.

Christopher Robin is a Cute & Charming Lesson in Love

In Christopher Robin Disney takes a crack at creating a live-action movie about a literary childhood favourite. . . A.A. Milne’s cuddly, British-born talking bear, Winnie the Pooh. Following the footsteps of another cute-as-a-button huggable British bear--Paddington, Christopher Robin has its sights set on evoking the warm and fuzzy memories of our young years. While Pooh Bear isn’t quite as charming and endearing as Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal) in the two films of the same name Pooh and his Hundred Acre Wood dwelling friends still generate plenty of ‘awww’s and sentimental smiles.

Unlike 2017’s heartbreaking drama Goodbye Christopher Robin this Christopher Robin film is firmly in the family way and festooned with plenty of comedy, to boot. Christopher Robin begins with a lovely sequence that bounces between pages of the beloved Milne book with the original pen and ink illustrations, and full-colour live-action interactions of Christopher playing with his animal friends in the Wood. Once that sweet storybook intro comes to a close, little lad Christopher Robin (Orton O’Brien) spends one last sunny afternoon with Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, Roo, Piglet, Tigger, and Pooh before he’s shipped out to boarding school.

Pooh and Company.

Over three decades pass and Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) has grown up. He traded in his imagination for stuffy, dull gray suits and a number-crunching, soul-sucking office gig. A department head of a prestigious luggage design company he has an entire team of working-class men (and woman. Yes, ONE.) looking up to him. All of his energy goes towards his career rather than his daughter Madeline (Bronte Carmichael) and his wife Evelyn (Hayley Atwell).

When Christopher breaks his plan to vacation over the weekend with Evelyn and Madeline at his quaint countryside childhood home, Evelyn is caught up in the blast of a truth bomb. Christopher is no longer the romantic she fell in love with. Emotionally distant, her husband and Madeline’s father is on the fast-track to becoming a no-nonsense wage-slave.  

But Christopher’s heart is in the right place. With a careless boss, who also happens to be the Winslow Luggage company heir, Giles Winslow (Mark Gatiss)  eager to fire any workers to save a quick buck Christopher is determined to cut expenses in other ways, ones that won’t hurt the people depending on him.

Ewan McGregor brings affection and warmth to a character that could’ve been played by a less nuanced actor as one-dimensionally selfish and out of touch. There are sparks of the imagination he had as a boy still burning inside of him, and we see them in a few quiet moments that don’t even have any dialog. The moments he spends with his daughter Madeline, herself just a tad bit older than Christopher was when he gleefully escaped to the Hundred Acre Wood, are especially moving.

Madeline is a stark contrast from young Christopher. Instead of being surrounded by cozy toys she’s constantly forced to focus on her schooling. As portrayed by actress Bronte Carmichael, Madeline is sensitive and determined and has an uncanny awareness of the world around her. This is a little girl who’s had the wonder and colour what should be a bright world full of possibility and opportunity, drained out of her life. There’s no room for fun and fantasy.

Unlike Paddington, Pooh Bear and company are reimagined as plushies. Old-fashioned and careworn they also have the ability to move around and talk. Whether they’re literally animated or just powered by the imagination doesn’t matter. The voice acting brings such life and personality to each of the characters. Especially Eeyore (Brad Garrett) and honey-loving Pooh. Voice actor extraordinaire Jim Cummings is the man behind both Pooh and Tigger (he began voicing the duo back in 1990) and makes Christopher Robin even more iconic and an instant classic.

The historical setting jumps seamlessly between picturesque woodland and countryside, to a bustling industrial city. The train station is especially thrilling, especially for fans of Harry Potter and lovers of the Hogwarts Express. It has a similar sort of high energy and anticipation in the air.

Don't EVER steal a grown man's teddy bear! 

Christopher Robin is a family film, that while not Hallmark card sappy or hopelessly cliche-ridden, has a touching familiarity that goes straight to our heart. After plenty of slapstick silliness -- especially centered around everyone’s favourite manic depressant donkey Eeyore -- there’s a tenderness and gentleness about the way Christopher returns to his favourite childhood stomping ground. There’s such an authenticity to how he both re-acquaints himself with Pooh and returns to Evelyn and Madeline’s life.  Don’t be surprised if by the time the ending comes ‘round you get misty-eyed and grab for the tissues.

Sweet and spirited, Christopher Robin is all about genuinely learning to find joy and love again in a world that can be very hard and grim. All with the help of a silly old bear, Christopher Robin urges us to re-embrace our innocence, to find the pockets of happiness around us, and to share our love without restraint.

Photos from IMDB

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