“Christopher Robin” is a straightforward film, and that’s OK. Each character is fairly one-dimensional, with the exception being Robin himself.
The film is nothing revolutionary, and there’s really no deeper message than what’s presented on the surface. Yet, director Marc Forster manages to perfectly capture the nostalgia and sheer joy that comes with Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood.
Ewan McGregor plays Christopher Robin, an efficiency expert at Winslow Luggages who has forgotten his childhood. After promising his wife Evelyn (Hayley Atwell) and daughter Madeline (Bronte Carmichael) he will take them away for the weekend before summer ends, Christopher becomes too caught up in his work once again.
Meanwhile, when Pooh cannot find any of his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, he walks through Christopher’s old door. This practically brings them face to face with each other, and Christopher begrudgingly agrees to help Pooh find them.
It’s evident from the start that Christopher’s relationship with his family is strained. He wishes to send his daughter away to boarding school, believing he must prepare her for adult life. This becomes a push and pull as the film progresses, with Madeline desperately wanting to please her father while not wanting to leave.
This further encapsulates the main theme, which Forster really hammers in over the 100-minute runtime. Pooh phrases it best when he says “Doing nothing often leads to the very best kind of something.” It’s a theme that I’m not quite sure I really agree with, but I can see how it fits into the context of the film.
Christopher has grown up and forgotten the important things in life, and it’s up to Pooh and Co. to jog his memory and show him that sometimes, doing nothing is perfectly fine.
Now let’s talk about Pooh. The stuffed bear really steals the show, with frequent thought-provoking one liners and his usual craving for honey.
At its heart, the film is about Winnie the Pooh, not Christopher Robin. The tear-jerking moments all occur when Pooh interacts with Christopher, and Jim Cummings does a phenomenal job of portraying a bumbling yet insightful bear. 
And when I say tear-jerking, I really do mean it. The film opens with a dialogue between the two that reminds viewers of their own childhood and what they might have left behind, and gradually comes full circle. Pooh really just wants his friend back, and he will do anything to please him.
The animation for Pooh and the other stuffed animals is quite incredible. At times it’s hard to believe CGI was even involved, but I suppose there really isn’t another explanation for a talking donkey.
And speaking of Eeyore, thanks to the voice acting of Brad Garrett, Eeyore steals every scene he is in. His gloomy and negative attitude is a great contrast to the rest of the cast, but it doesn’t overpower them.
I haven’t touched yet on the rest of the animals — Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Owl, Kanga and Roo — but they all share at least a few scenes together. While I was hoping for more screen time with them, it makes sense for these animals to take a back seat for most of the ride.
The film rides a fine line between “Are these stuffed animals really alive?” and “There’s no way magic is actually involved in this, is there?” Without spoiling anything though, I was satisfied with the film’s ending and it really captured the theme they were going for. The ending is not at all what I expected, but I’m glad I was wrong.
My main criticism is that Forster too often feels the need to make things a little too “on the nose.”
This is first and foremost a film about family and not letting work consume what’s most important, yet the resolution is established from the very beginning.
When Christopher’s evil boss Giles Winslow Jr. (Mark Gatiss) states “Nothing comes from nothing,” the viewer immediately knows what the final showdown will be. And when Christopher loses Pooh in the fog and has to walk through the potentially Heffalump and Woozle infested woods, it’s made clear he is battling his inner crisis and who he used to be.
Yet the more I think about it, the more it doesn’t really matter. This film wasn’t made for those who dissect every individual scene, or those who search for the deeper meaning behind a theme. I don’t even think the film was made for children, since many aren’t familiar with the stories.
“Christopher Robin” is a love letter to those who grew up with the characters, and from the very first scene. It’s an excellent, nostalgic, emotional adventure — even if it’s a tad too simple.
Max Rothenberg can be reached at [email protected]