Following
in the recent tradition of Disney rebooting their stable of animated classics
with new live-action adaptations, “Christopher Robin” continues the saga of
Winnie the Pooh, imagining a world where Pooh’s human
companion Christopher Robin has finally grown up.
Like “Hook” or “Mary Poppins” before
it, “Christopher Robin” tells a more melancholic story than one might expect,
focusing on an adult rediscovering the lost wonder of their childhood and
learning what’s really important in life. Though like “Hook” it has some
difficulty nailing the tonal shifts, ending up as a kids movie that’s aimed
more at adults than any children in the audience.
The film begins with a scene from
A.A. Milne’s 1928 book “The House at Pooh Corner,” in which Pooh and the rest
of the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood throw a party to say goodbye to
Christopher Robin (Orton O’Brien) before he leaves for boarding school. From
there, we see a touching montage of the milestones of Christopher Robin’s
transition to adulthood: losing his father, falling in love, and going off to
fight in the war.
By the end, Christopher Robin has
grown up (now played by Ewan McGregor) and works as the manager of the
efficiency department at a luggage company. His work has come to be the primary
focus of his life, and Christopher has long forgotten his old childhood friends
from the Hundred Acre Wood.
He’s recently been given the duty of
reducing expenses, which sadly may require him to lay off some of his
colleagues. He’s been assigned to put together a presentation over the weekend
on the best course of action for the company, a task that means he’ll have to
miss a planned trip to the family’s cottage in Sussex. Christopher’s wife,
Evelyn (Hayley Atwell) and young daughter, Madeline (Bronte Carmichael) are
disappointed, but are clearly used to him backing out of plans in favor of
spending more time at work.
Back in the Hundred Acre Wood, Pooh
wakes to discover that the rest of his friends have disappeared. As he heads
off to find them, he ends up stumbling into the real world, where
he meets Christopher once again. Soon he’s enlisted his old friend to come back
to the forest to help find Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and all the others, while
helping him shake off the middle-aged malaise that seems to have enveloped him.
Returning to the Hundred Acre Wood,
Christopher Robin finds it’s grown gloomy and gray, covered in a dense fog. The
environment matches the film’s somber tone, though the narrative is suffused
with just enough joy that it doesn’t become entirely depressing.
Cinematographer Matthias Koenigswieser shoots the
entire film in muted, desaturated tones, and while his photography helps root the
story in a more grounded reality, but I couldn’t help feeling desperate for a
hint of color as the story progressed.
In a somewhat unexpected choice,
Christopher’s friends from the Hundred Acre Wood are portrayed as real and not
just figments of his imagination; every other person they encounter can see
them move and hear them talk just like Christopher can. I enjoyed the decision
to go full bore fantasy with the story, even if it doesn’t entirely make sense.
The characters themselves are
brought to life with impeccably rendered CGI, and given the pleasingly tactile
look of stuffed animals worn from years of play (except for Rabbit and Owl, who
are made to appear as though they’re actual animals).
The script (credited to indie
writer-director Alex Ross Perry; Tom McCarthy, Oscar-winning director-co-writer
of “Spotlight;” and “Hidden Figures” writer Allison Schroeder) adds enough
busyness to the narrative that it doesn’t entirely match the simple, gentle
spirit of a traditional Pooh adventure. But there’s enough heart that the film
remains respectful of the source material.
The film’s ostensible lesson is that
Christopher is neglecting the truly important things like family, and needs to
recapture the joy of his childhood, but I couldn’t help thinking that pop
culture encouraging grown men to cling to the things they loved as children
hasn’t exactly worked out too well for the world lately.
McGregor is wonderful in the lead
role, nicely capturing the way his character’s exasperation melts away as he reconnects
with his childhood companions. He’s also quite good at conveying the affection
and deep underlying emotion in referring to Pooh as a “silly old bear.”
But the true MVP of the film is
voice actor Jim Cummings, once again portraying Winnie the Pooh (as well as
Tigger). He’s been performing as Pooh since 1988, and his voice conveys
sweetness and purity with just a hint of sadness.
Far more than any fancy computer
effects, he’s responsible for giving life to the loveable stuffed bear of “very
little brain” but enormous amounts of heart.
This article appears in Aug 8-14, 2018.
