Goodbye Christopher Robin
Goodbye Christopher Robin
PG | 13 October 2017 (USA)
Goodbye Christopher Robin Trailers

The behind the scenes story of the life of A.A. Milne and the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories inspired by his son Christopher Robin.

Reviews
Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Phillida Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.
BBogus Actually didn't expect much, but was from start to finish immersed in the film. Although it might be too polished and has its flaws it does wonderfully tell the story of Billy Moon and Blue. A solid narrative, beautifully acted and fully entertaining which is what it is all about when watching a film.
Neil Welch Writer Alan Milne returns from World War I suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He and wife Daphne have a child, Christopher Robin but known as Billy Moon, and move to the country where the child is largely brought up by his nanny Nou. When she takes a leave of absence to look after her mother, Billy grows close to his father, and the seeds for the Winnie the Pooh books begin to grow. Their success takes the family by surprise and Billy's childhood is sacrificed on the altar of Pooh Bear's commercialism. The legacy of being the actual Christopher Robin never leaves Billy, ruining his adolescence, although he later comes to terms with the importance of his father's books and their characters to the wider world.This biographical film dramatises the three intertwined stories of AA Milne, Christopher Robin Milne, and Winnie the Pooh. We see all the elements of the Pooh story as they occur and, thankfully, they are shown gracefully rather than being shoehorned into the story with clumsy ugliness.But although the familiarity with Winnie the Pooh gives a warm glow to some aspects of the film, this is not a happy tale. Milne is a damaged man who does his best, fighting against the burden of his war experiences. His wife is not a sympathetic character: when she does the right thing, you get the feeling that this is because she knows she ought to rather than because she genuinely wants to. And both of them are clearly emotional people trapped behind a belief that emotions should be kept tightly under control. A sequence towards the end is telling, when Nou is the only person to show the adult Christopher physical affection.Domnhall Gleeson and Margot Robbie are both excellent as the Milnes, with Kelly Macdonald superb as Nou. Will Tilston is good as 8-year old Billy, although I found him a little too cutesy to sympathise with as much as I should have. Alex Lawther is very good as the older Christopher.And there is a sad footnote: Christopher Milne never took a penny from the immense amount of money earned by his father's Winnie-the-Pooh books, so bitter was he about the extent to which they blighted his life.
zkonedog Whenever I'm judging a biopic film, I always see if it passes my test of having that "spark" for why it needed to be made into a live-action portrayal of the events (or maybe should have just been a documentary). For the first 2/3 of "Goodbye Christopher Robin", it didn't (or just barely) passed that test. Fortunately, the final act really redeems it by adding in some emotion that truly felt real.For a basic plot summary, this film tells the story of how author A.A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) conceived his Winnie The Pooh books by watching the playtime of his son Christopher Robin (Will Tilston). The movie extends that lens, however, by continuing past the publication of the books and focusing on the struggles of an adolescent Christopher (Alex Lawther) and how much he resented being "the real Christopher Robin".Like I said above, the first 2/3 of "Goodbye Christopher Robin" were "just okay", and that is at best. At times it felt a bit emotionless and plodding, and I wondered if perhaps this story wasn't quite exciting enough to be worthy of a live-action biopic. Perhaps a well-constructed documentary would do on the subject? It just didn't seem to offer one single really interesting thing that wasn't either already shown in the trailer or couldn't be guessed by common sense for how reality transpires.But then, in quite a turnaround, the film really focuses in on the struggles of Christopher Robin post-Pooh, and that's where things really pick up steam (especially when Lawther's performances as Robin begin). This is where the film breaks from being just a "straight Pooh origin story" (of which it is passable at best) to being a deeper examination of emotional themes between individuals. These are the scenes in the film where I really felt like I cared about the people on screen, instead of just being told a story I basically already knew.In terms of acting, things often feel a bit stilted at certain points. Both Gleeson and Robbie (playing Christopher's mother) are great actors, but they perhaps seem a bit odd for their respective roles here. Robbie's character shined much as as a "young mother" and declined as the film went on, whereas I felt Gleeson's performance actually stepped up a notch as he portrayed an older father. In a lot of ways, though, the cinematography steals the show here, what with all the wonderful shots of the English countryside as well the noir, if you will, of London of that time period.Like most children, I went through a Winnie the Pooh phase, and that's obviously why a film like this appeals to so many viewers. This one will never be an out-and-out classic, but it can still be enjoyed, especially by those who prefer a more straightforward approach to biopics. The last portions of the film really make up for the paint-by-numbers approach in the early goings, too.
daithiwalker Film is great. Can't help but feel a little but of animosity towards the mother and father after it all. The pretty much ruined their kids life. Also, seems that he never did forgive his parents for what they did to him in real life. Warning though. If you love winnie the pooh, this may just ruin the stories for you though. It's not the most romantic story ever told.