CHRISTOPHER ROBIN – A Review by John Strange
A.A. Milne and E. H. Shepard created a world which existed mainly in a young boy's head, the Hundred Acre Wood and it's inhabitants Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Roo, Kanga, EEyore, Rabbit, and Owl. The little boy, Christopher Robin, was a lonely boy who needed friends. He found them in that wood.
In this update of the beloved stories, Christopher Robin's life is traced from his last day in his Hundred Acre Wood with all of his friends through school, the war (WW II), and finally to his life following the war. Christopher (Ewan McGregor) met his future wife on a trolley. He and Evelyn (Hayley Atwell) were expecting a child when Christopher went off to war.
He came home to a sweet and smart young daughter, Madeline (Bronte Carmichael). She loved her father but he was determined to do whatever it took to give his family a good life. This meant that he missed meals and vacations leaving Evelyn and Madeline by themselves all too often. Madeline loved her father. His inability to give her the time she so dearly wanted caused her great pain.
All this is to change when Pooh (Jim Cummings (Voice)) comes to London to get his old friend to help him find all of his missing friends. All of the companions from the Wood disappeared! Christopher starts off refusing to help his old friend as he must finish an important task for work so important that he sent his wife and daughter off on holiday to the country without him.
Pooh being Pooh, brings about change just by being himself. The chaos that naturally follows in his innocent wake brings us the humor that is a large part of this story. There is also a lot of love here as well. The moral of this story is presented to us in a sweet way that brings all of the characters of the film together in one room.
This is a story that I feel that Mr. Milne might have written, were he still with us today. The story has a well defined villain in Giles Winslow, scion of Winslow empire, and Christopher's boss. The heart of this story is love and friendship. I absolutely loved it.
Directed by: Marc Forster
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, Mark Gatiss, Jim Cummings (Voice), Chris O’Dowd (Voice), Brad Garrett (Voice), Toby Jones (Voice), Nick Mohammed (Voice), Peter Capaldi (Voice), Sophie Okonedo (Voice)
MPAA Rating: PG (for some action)
Selig Rating: A+
Runtime: 104 Min.
Movie Site: movies.disney.com/christopher-robin
The Selig Rating Scale:
A – Excellent movie, well worth the price.
B – Good movie
C – OK movie
D – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
F – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn't paid for it.
