In a time when we live in a world being bombarded with stress, problems and complexities, it is a refreshing change to see a film that can transport us back to a simpler time where life was basically carefree and we end up, by films' end, wondering why we can't go back there. Well, the classic beloved Disney story about Winnie-the Pooh, "Christopher Robin" does just that.
In the heartwarming live action adventure, the young boy who loved embarking on adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood with a band of spirited and loveable stuffed animals, has grown up, and lost his way. Now a family man living in London, Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) receives a surprise visit from his old childhood pal, Winnie-the-Pooh (Jim Cummings). With Christopher's help, Pooh embarks on a journey to find his friends--Tigger (Cummings). Eeyore (Brad Garrett), Owl (Toby Jones), Piglet (Nick Mohammed), Rabbit (Peter Capaldi), Kanga (Sophie Okonedo) and Roo (Sara Sheen). Once reunited, the loveable bear and the gang travel to the big city to help Christopher rediscover the joy of life and the playful boy who is still inside.
Others to round out the cast are Hayley Atwell as Evelyn Robin, Christopher's wife, Bronte Carmichael as Madeline Robin, Christopher's daughter, Mark Gatiss as Giles Winslow, Oliver Ford Davies as Old Man Winslow, Katy Carmichael as Christopher's Mother, Tristan Sturrock as Christopher's Father and Orton O'Brien as Young Christopher Robin.
This was whimsically directed by Marc Forster ("Loungers" '95, "Everything Put Together" 2000, "Monster's Ball" '01, "Finding Neverland" '04, "Stay" '05, "Stranger Than Fiction" '06, "The Kite Runner" '07, "Quantum of Solace" '08, "Machine Gun Preacher" '11, "World War Z" '13, All I See Is You" '16) plus TV and shorts. Even though this filmmaker runs the gambit in material, there is actually a connection intertwined within his projects: whimsy and fantasy laced with adventure and drama to stress a point he's attempting to convey. One only needs to read his resume to understand this. So with similarities within his work, there is still a definite individuality to his work as well which makes his work intriguing. It was creatively written by Alex Ross Perry, Tom McCarthy and Allison Schroeder based on a story by Greg Brooker and Mark Steven Johnson which is based on characters created by A.A. Milne and E.H. Shepard. Interesting how McCarthy gave top billing of the writing credit to Perry even though McCarthy has the lion's share of the commercial experience. I can only speculate in that because Perry has more independent work, possibly McCarthy wanted to exploit his experience considering there is a tremendous amount of talented indie writers out there. Other than a couple of very small places of slowness, this incarnation of many installments of the beloved story simply rocked. The visual effects and animation predominantly created by Framestore were seamless and enhanced the storyline. In the many incarnations of this story Jim Cummings has voiced Pooh, this one included and his voice is perfect. It is so close to that of the original voice by Sterling Holloway.
As aforementioned, the best thing I can say for this is to be able to go back to a simpler time surrounded by lbeoved characters so the escape factor is not only heartwarming, but it is needed as well. There should be more films like these out there to relax and enjoy even if it's only a 100 minute plus running time.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG 104mins.
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