Well, someone spent a good half of this movie in a puddle of salt water, but it definitely wasn’t me.
C’mon . . . who am I kidding. Of course it was me.
I DID NOT EXPECT THIS TO BE SO EMOTIONAL, OKAY??? It was supposed to be a cute little kids’ film!! It was supposed to be silly and fun! And instead, by the end of the opening credits, I’m sitting there in the dark with tears rolling down my cheeks. The filmmakers didn’t stop there, either. Oh no, my friends . . . oh, no. They were just getting started.
[I mean, given the bright-and-whimsical movie poster, don’t I have the right to feel a TINY bit betrayed?]
I’m not saying that Pooh and friends weren’t as sweet and cuddly and fuzzy as advertised; and I’m not saying there weren’t many laugh-out-loud moments; but overall? This is a story that cuts deep. Real deep. I was not prepared, fam. These writers sit you down and force you to look the heartwrenching process we call ‘growing up‘ squarely in the face . . . and the fact that we’re seeing this pain through the eyes of our beloved Christopher Robin only adds to the burden.
Christopher’s changed, you see. First they took him away to boarding school. Then his father died. Then he went to war, and got badly wounded, and meanwhile, missed the first three years of his only daughter’s life. To top it off, his mind-numbing postwar job as an efficiency manager sucks up all his time and leaves none for his wife and little girl (played by a stellar Haley Atwell and Bronte Carmichael). And as our movie begins, the company demands he come up with twenty percent cuts out of thin air, giving him no option but laying off those who need work the most.
No wonder he no longer feels like “Christopher Robin.”
[Ewan McGregor, folks. This man. This man pulls off ‘lost soul’ like nobody’s business. HIS EYES GIVE ME ACTUAL PHYSICAL PAIN. I can’t imagine anyone else, now, to play grown-up Christopher . . . *applauds* Well done, sir.]
But it’s okay, right? Because Pooh and the gang are coming to the rescue? They’ll show up in London and whisk Christopher back to the Hundred Acre Wood, and everything will be sunshine and butterflies and honeypots again, right away? Right???
WRONG.
IT’S NOT THAT SIMPLE.
MANY TEARS WERE SHED, GUYS.
I’m not going to spoil for you how it all gets resolved–and yes, there is a happy ending, after a while. But boy, oh boy, do these writers make you work for it. Remember when we thought Toy Story 3 was the most heartbreaking kids’ film about growing up that anyone could ever put together? Remember that? Hahahahahahahahaha . . . #NOPE.
This is definitely a movie about lost innocence. And that means it hurts. (As well it should.) There’s hope, though. Because sometimes–with a little help from silly old bear–the things we’ve lost can be found again.
I highly recommend this movie, to anyone and everyone who loves Winnie the Pooh; and everyone who wants to remember how to see the world through the eyes of a child.
Have you seen Christopher Robin yet?
What did you think of it?