Christopher Robin digs past the schmaltz of Pooh to find absurd fun
There’s no end to the schmaltz in Winnie-thePooh’s honeypot, yet Disney’s live-action Christopher Robin also tosses in enough charm and tomfoolery for a sufficiently delightful hang with the iconic bear.
Directed by Marc Forster ( Finding Neverland), the family-friendly film takes the beloved characters from A.A. Milne’s 1920s stories and imagines them a few decades later. Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) is all grown up — and grumpy, to boot — yet again needing the friendship of Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger.
Following a boarding school stint that took him away from the Hundred Acre Wood regulars, as well as his service in World War II, Christopher is now a workaholic efficiency manager at a struggling luggage company in London. His long hours at the office — and general nonsmiling, nonfun manner — have also taken their toll on his wife, Evelyn (Hayley Atwell), and their loving nineyear-old daughter, Madeline (Bronte Carmichael). Things get really grim when Christopher has to stay home during their weekend getaway, thanks to his snooty boss (Mark Gatiss).
Just when Christopher’s at his wit’s end, Pooh (Jim Cummings) is back in his life, the same old ultrahuggable, cryptic-speaking hope machine he always has been, with constant Pooh-isms such as: “I always get to where I’m going by walking away from where I’ve been.”
Pooh enlists his chum’s help to find their missing friends, who have scattered about the woods over the years trying to avoid dangerous Woozles and Heffalumps. At the same time, Christopher also has to get a cost-saving plan together posthaste during their adventure or else his whole team will get fired.
While the story is pretty predictable fluff — other than a fleeting war scene, this is definitely one for the kids — Christopher Robin contains a thread of madcap subversiveness and wonderfully captures the absolute chaos of literal stuffed animals gone wild, from Pooh tracking sticky honey all through Christopher’s immaculate house to bystanders completely freaking out when a toy donkey starts jibber-jabbering.
But there is a plodding glumness and distinct melancholy to the narrative and look of Christopher Robin. The first 25 minutes or so are such a downer that Pooh and his perennial paunch can’t even lift the mood. (Though compared to last year’s dreary Milne biopic Goodbye Christopher Robin, this is comparatively a candy-coated confection, even at its darkest.)
Christopher and Pooh have to work out some things when their lives intersect again. The human has put aside childish ways, the bear has missed the boy he once knew, and some scenes lean a bit serious for youngsters wanting to get back to the adventure at hand.
The film’s colour palette brightens gradually as its title character rekindles his youthful vigour, and once Madeline meets Pooh’s gang (they have to rescue some important papers her dad needs for a meeting), the movie zooms along at a pleasant pace.
Cummings has voiced Pooh in cartoons for 30 years, so there’s a nostalgic air alongside the bear’s natural Zen warmth; the actor also pulls double duty as Tigger, and the excitable tiger belts a familiar tune for old-school Pooh lovers. The biggest scene-stealer is sarcastic sadsack Eeyore, with gravelly voiced Brad Garrett doling out one-liners when the donkey is convinced Christopher is a dangerous Heffalump.
Christopher Robin weathers its faults to craft an endearing and thoughtful jam about embracing what’s really important in life, a message that even Eeyore can begrudgingly get behind. © 2018 USA TODAY