This live-action Disney feature imagines the human boy from A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh stories as an adult who’s grown emotionally divorced from his childhood; over an eventful weekend, he reconnects with the talking stuffed animals of his youth and remembers the value of play and make-believe. Indie filmmakers Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip) and Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) wrote the original screenplay with Allison Schroeder, and they wrestle with some dark themes (the disappointments of adulthood, the ugliness of selling out) while maintaining the sweet, poignant tone of Milne’s stories and the Pooh animated shorts of the 1950s. Too bad it was directed by veteran hack Marc Forster (The Kite Runner, World War Z), who paves over the script’s idiosyncrasies with a generic feel-good style and proves flat-footed with regards to comedy. Still, Ewan McGregor gives a winning lead performance, and the animals are voiced and realized beautifully. In the right hands, this might have been great.
Christopher Robin
PG • 1 hour 44 min • 2018
