Review of movie Christopher Robin

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 Rating:  4/5

Once people grow up, they tend to get overwhelmed by the expectations and norms of adult life. The monotony of schedules and responsibilities take over and the joy of life is reduced to becoming a feeling of nostalgia. AA Milne’s iconic Winnie the Pooh and his friends have long been a reminder of childhood, playfulness and naivety. In this new film by Marc Forster, the treatment is dreary and even though this is a Disney production, the characters have washed out colours as the setting is grey and gloomy. But the crux of Milne’s original work is still there. The film repeats the line, ‘doing nothing leads to the very best kind of something’. The idea is to retain the child within and even when you’re an adult, you can still have fun if you seek out the childhood wonder.

Ewan McGregor sleepwalks through his role of a father and a husband, who does not have enough time for his family. He’s supposed to be an adult, who is completely disconnected with the child that he used to be, but his performance never brings the depth or the emotion to the character. What also feels a bit jarring is the fact that Pooh, Tigger and the other animal-toy avatars from Milne’s universe look worn-out and without the usual colours. It’s a device to depict abject realism and portray that grey feeling of adulthood, but somehow it doesn’t quite add to the appeal of the film.

Unlike Milne’s original work, Christopher Robin is not just a film for children. Robin’s wife Evelyn (Hayley Atwell) tells him that she hasn’t seen him laugh in years. That’s a clear as day hint to the ‘adulthood has made you boring’ idea. They way Forster’s film builds and delivers this thought is fantastic. The funny scenes of Robin, a grown man, wading through London crowds with Pooh’s simpleton observations and comments are a lot of fun. The scene where Robin’s young daughter Madeline discovers the joy of playing out in the open and exploring is also a nice nod to modern times.