Goodbye Christopher Robin Review – Spoiler Free
Goodbye Christopher Robin is a film which comes directed by Simon Curtis who some might know as the director of 2015’s Woman In Gold. The film stars Margot Robbie, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Tilston and Kelly Macdonald. The film is based on the true events surrounding the making of the original Winnie The Pooh books and the life of the real Christopher Robin and his family. It surely is an interesting experience to go and see for any Winnie The Pooh fan out there.
I had always liked the Winnie The Pooh stories and growing up I had always watched the Disney animated cartoons and TV adventures of the character, I always loved seeing all of them. I never actually did read the original Winnie The Pooh story from Milne growing up as I never really looked into it further than what I saw on TV, but it’s now on my list of books to read. I had no idea that Christopher Robin was a real person and that Winnie the Pooh and all the other characters were actually someone’s childhood toys and the stories were based on that child’s adventures.
Goodbye Christopher Robin tells us the story behind how Winnie The Pooh came to be and for the most part the movie is something that I would say it super nice. But on the other hand, I found the entire story of Christopher Robin’s life to be very sad. I’m not sure how to write about it without spoiling the film, but what essentially happens to Christopher Robin is that his family isn’t exactly close with him during his childhood. Much of his raising is done by his nanny. His father who is the author of the books, spends some time with Christopher Robin and decides to write a story about his toys and his adventures in the woods in which they live. It all seems harmless enough, but there is a heavy theme in there about exploiting a young child for some financial gain.
The young Christopher Robin doesn’t really understand what’s going on, but his fame after the books are published skyrockets, he’s like a 1920’s Justin Bieber and everyone is going crazy! There’s interviews lined up with the press, everyone wants to play with his toys and everyone wants to talk to him. The poor kid is mostly exploited for some time, but it also has some consequences in that he doesn’t really develop an identity. He’s not really the Christopher Robin in the story, the character has his name, but that’s not really who he is and it’s a big issue. I don’t want to go more into the plot than this, but I felt the whole thing and his whole life was really very sad and a lot of it towards the end is tragedy.
The acting in this film is great. I loved the performance from Will Tilston who played the young Christopher Robin, this young kid can definitely act and was super cute as well. I’m sure everyone who goes to see this will adore Will Tilston. Margot Robbie was also great in this film. although unlike much of the marketing would suggest, her screen time isn’t as much as you’d think. A really big stand out though was Domhnall Gleeson who did some great work as Alan Milne who is essentially the central character for much of the story and has most of the screen time.
The directing of this was well done. The locations chosen to film the 100 Acre Wood and the home and everything were just what they needed to be. The costumes were all excellent and the character outfits were very realistic. Simon Curtis did a great job with the film’s tone and it is a nice movie to watch with a very nice story to tell. I came to really care for each of the characters and even though the parents were mean a little at times, I liked them by the end anyway. Goodbye Christopher Robin is an emotional experience though and this is I think the saddest film I watched all year. It’s all about a child growing up and Christopher Robin is very innocent and the world is just not really that great at all.
Overall Goodbye Christopher Robin is an impressive film experience and I’m sure anyone who comes out of the cinema will have a lot to talk about. For Winnie The Pooh fans, this story will provide a lot of context for what was going on behind the scenes for the creation of the stories. Although do be prepared for quite an emotional experience as the story of Christopher Robin is a bit of tragedy and is really very sad at times. All of the actors were great and both Will Tilston and Domhnall Gleeson were very impressive. The characters in Goodbye Christopher Robin were all wonderful and I cared about all of them in the end. It’s even more interesting that these were all real people. It’s a sad story, but it’s a good one and I highly recommend going to see this at cinema. You can’t call yourself a Pooh fan if you don’t go see it!
