Charming Pooh film plenty good for the soul

squirmy afternoon.

“Christopher Robin” might be disguised as Disney-produced family entertainment, but it mostly speaks to adults.

Former Pooh playmate Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) has grown up, having seen some bad things during World War II. He’s now in his 40s and stuck in a middle-management job at a luggage firm. When work stress forces him to miss a much-needed holiday weekend in the English countryside with his wife (Hayley Atwell) and daughter, Pooh and friends return to see whether any of Robin’s inner child remains.

These early scenes are lovely, bollstered by seamless interactions between the real and imagined actors.

Screenwriters Alex Ross Perry and Allison Schroeder craft a lively and thoughtful screenplay that doesn’t betray the earnest and endearingly naive innocence of English author A.A. Milne’s characters.

“Pooh, there’s more to life than balloons and honey,” McGregor’s Robin says, increasingly frustrated by Pooh’s inability to get frustrated.

“Are you sure?” the bear replies.

Like so many other moments in the film, this one feels as if the language was written to break the fourth wall and directly address individual moviegoers. The pauses between the words often say as much as the conversation itself. Moviegoers’ exiting from the theater will invite one more big pause, as older Pooh fans contemplate their own priorities — and the fleeting joyful youth of the children seated next to them.

Thankfully, the film isn’t all existential angst.

Jim Cummings is a welcome return voicing Pooh, a role he has inhabited comfortably for three decades. Brad Garrett is a consistent delight as the voice of Eeyore. Owl, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga and Roo have a lot less to do, but that was often the case.

The film ending features manufactured conflict and a rote chase scene, some welcome physical humor and an awkward merging of the real world and the stuffed characters. The blending of stoic 1950s England and the fantasy of talking animals is one of the few things in the movie that Forster can’t quite finesse.

Still, the ending is consistent and lovely, even if most kids in the audience are ready to leave by now.

Take the children, anyway. Movies such as “Christopher Robin,” less prevalent than ever, and good for the soul.