‘Goodbye’ loses way in Hundred Acre Wood
Who is the British period film “Goodbye Christopher Robin” meant for? It is not a children’s film, although it is inspired by A.A. Milne’s children’s classic “Winniethe-Pooh,” a book I have never liked.
The story begins in England in a sun-dappled wood with an ancient tree. But it soon follows with scenes in which author Alan Milne (Domnhall Gleeson) and his beautiful, angry wife, Daphne (Aussie Margot Robbie), receive a dreaded telegram about their only son, Christopher Robin (Alex Lawther as an 18-yearold), a British soldier in World War II.
Daphne was distraught when her son enlisted since she knew what service in World War I did to her husband and countless of his generation. We then backtrack to the past and scenes of Alan and fellow soldiers coming across fly-blown corpses at the Somme and the London courtship of literary Alan and fiery Daphne.
Director Simon Curtis (“Woman of Gold”), working from a screenplay by Frank Cottrell Boyce (“Railway Man”) and Simon Vaughan (“Ripper Street”), who has written previous “Winnie” projects, uses a kind of magical realism to combine these disparate images with Alan’s shellshocked war memories poking out at him in the middle of a posh black tie and gown party triggered by sudden noises.
Alan and Daphne and their son, whom they also call Billy Moon (Will Tilston in a page boy haircut), move to a big country house in Sussex perched on the edge of a deep, dark, bee-buzzing “Hundred Acre Wood,” where Billy, accompanied by his stuffed animals, wanders and plays, sometimes with his father, aka Blue, who finds succor and spiritual healing in the forest.
Daphne, meanwhile, is bored in Sussex and returns to London frequently, leaving husband and son to fend for themselves with the new nanny, Olive (an underused Kelly Macdonald). Billy also forms a powerful bond with his lovely and protective Scotswoman Olive, who takes the part of his often absent aristocratic mother and is in many ways far more maternal.
Alan decides to use his son and his toy animals and their adventures in the forest as the basis for a book to get through his writer’s block. The book with illustrations by Alan’s friend and fellow combat veteran Ernest Howard Shepard (Stephen Campbell Moore) becomes a sensation, and children all over the world write letters to the real Christopher Robin about his friends the animals.
Christopher becomes upset that his childhood has been shared with all and that he has to partake in horrible publicity events and meet with horrible children. Oh, boohoo. Of course, Pooh also makes the Milne family rich, so there is that.
After being bullied at boarding school, young Christopher joins up and heads out for war. A twist at the end comes across as more convenient than believable, even if it is true.
Aussie Robbie adopts a posh Brit accent here and looks fabulous in her “Downton Abbey”-era haute couture. But, otherwise, the entire production comes across as an elegant and earnestly half-baked mistake.
(“Goodbye Christopher Robin” contains scenes of war violence.)