Christopher Robin (2018)

I am a Paddington fan. The duology of films is pleasant, inspiring, and fun. A line has been drawn. I'm a Paddington guy.

So you can imagine my irritation when Disney announced that they were jumping feet first into the highly profitable world of CGI British bears.

You can imagine my further annoyance when 2018's Christopher Robin began receiving highly positive reviews. My pettiness kept me from seeing it in theaters, but it recently popped up on my Netflix queue, and I decided to give it a go.

I. What Is It?

This is the story of Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor), but not the boyhood Christopher Robin that adventured with his stuffed bear, Pooh (Jim Cummings). No, this is the all growed-up Christpher Robin, with a wife, and a daughter, and a soul-crushing corporate job and responsibilities. And no time to play.

II. This Is Two-Thirds Great

The first two acts of this movie blew my mind. This was not a child-friendly romp through the forest with cutesy animated animal friends. This was the tale of a boy who grew into a man he hardly recognized. A man who had lost the imaginative spark that gave life to his younger years. The first two acts of this movie are incredible because they are not a children's movie. Christopher Robin realizes how far he's fallen from the highs of his childhood, his marriage is on the rocks, and even Pooh, when he shows up, looks like a stuffed animal left out in the elements for twenty years. Which, ya know, he is.

The first 2/3s of this movie are dominated by a kind of somber depressive mood that is pretty damn bold in a movie about Winnie the Pooh. But I guess it isn't really about Pooh. It's about Christopher Robin. The film's drab and mournful color scheme of London suggest that his life has lost its wonder. The dominant yellow hues in his home suggest the danger of his family falling apart. And the vibrant colors that smash into frame when he DOES finally go exploring with Pooh suggest that he is finding his joy once again.

Director Marc Forster keeps everything in balance: it's sad, but not oppressive; it's funny, but not ridiculous. The first two thirds of this movie are a wonderful story of a man fallen from grace trying to find it again. The cinematography is gorgeous. Ewan McGregor is committed to this role, and is playing Christopher Robin with real pathos.

And then the last act happens. When it becomes, suddenly, a children's adventure, and everything gets tied up neatly in a bow. I mean, I shouldn't be surprised, but it rings a little hollow given how far the first two-thirds of the film went in telling a complex, mature story. I'm a little sad that the film buckled under the pressure and decided to be a hollow Kids Movie in its last act when it was working so hard to be something so much more in its first two.

And this film had Hayley Atwell and absolutely wasted her: her Evelyn is just sort of there. Don't get me wrong, Atwell sells what she is given mightily, but she isn't given much at all. It's just kind of criminal to shunt her off to a cardboard standee version of a concerned wife. 

III. Great CG

The gang looks great. They look like aged stuffed animals that have been left in the woods. Their fur is a little faded, their button-eyes have lost some of their shine. They move stiffly or with rag-doll abandon. This movie was nominated for an Oscar for best Visual Effects, and it is no wonder. Pooh and his friends look real. They look like they are there, in frame, acting along with the leads.

IV. Gorgeous

This is sort of an art-house kids movie.

Matthias Koenigswieser's photography is absolutely stunning. The maudlin streets of London, Robin's cozy flat, and the homey cottage in the country are all filmed with loving care and attention to detail. The use of light and shadow and color are precise and help tell the story as much as any dialogue.

Jenny Beavan and Sally Turner's costumes are lush.

Jon Brion and Geoff Zanelli's score is full of plucked heartstrings and wonder.

The art direction and set design transport you to the film's world and make it feel like a wonderfully lived-in place.

This is an expertly crafted film.

V. It's Not Long

The film is only an hour and forty-four minutes. It manages to tell a decently emotional story in that timeframe, even if it stumbles in the last third of its runtime.

VI. Should You See It?

Look, in the realm of Affable British Bears, there is a clear winner, and it isn't Winnie. It's Paddington. But I digress. You could do far worse than sitting down and turning this movie on. It is fun. It will make you feel things. Despite its best efforts to undermine its own beginnings, the film is fairly powerful and I enjoyed it. I don't consider it essential, but it made for a decent evening's viewing.

Miscellany

- Owl and Rabbit are the only two REAL animals in the bunch (they're still CGI creations, but they are not depicted as stuffed animals). This is a reference to A. A. Milne's original stories.
- Jim Cummings has played Winnie the Pooh and Tigger since 1988.
- Johann Johannsson was contracted to score the film, but he passed away before he began work on it. The film is dedicated to him.
- This is the only Winnie the Pooh film to be rated PG instead of G.
- This is the first Winnie the Pooh film to be nominated for an Academy Award since 1968's Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. It was nominated for Best Visual Effects.