Goodbye Christopher Robin: A Biographical Tale about the Price of Fame.

Every once in a while a studio produces a movie based on a famous person and their creation. Prime examples would be The Greatest Showman, Mary Shelley, Big Eyes, The Aviator, and many more. So, doing a movie about A.A Milne ,Winnie-the-Pooh, and Christopher Robin was inevitable. It was a matter of time when a studio would hire a production team to start working on the beloved book. And now, here we are presented with a look into the life of Christopher Robin (Billy Moon), the origin story of how Winnie-the-Pooh came to life, and the price Billy had to pay for his fame.

The film tells the story of A.A Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) a World War I survivor who keeps suffering from shell shock. He is happily married to his wife Daphne (Margot Robbie), who is an aristocratic mannered lady. The couple end up having their first child, who they name Christopher Robin but end up calling Billy Moon. They move to the countryside of London for Alan to resume his writing, but he seems to have a writer's block from stress. Daphne presents her son with a teddy bear that he begins to play with right away and this inspires Alan to write a story about his son and his soft toys. This sparks all of England to read the books and fall in love with Winnie-the-Pooh. Stores begin to replicate Billy's bear, which he responds to negatively. From then on, the family struggles to keep their relations stable as their son descends into global stardom.

The film accurately depicts the craze the globe had with Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin throughout the 1920s. Simon Curtis manages to capture the feel of childhood and innocence in the movie and portray Christopher as a child who just wants to be loved by his parents. The audience express compassion towards the small boy and the fame that he doesn't want at all. The movie stands somewhere between an art house film and a major studio movie because its evident from shots and cuts the movie is filled with. The beginning had an art house vibe to it while the middle and the end were shot as studio movie .The film also perfectly illustrates the struggle a child goes through when he just wants attention from his parents but is left with only his imagination.

Domhnall Gleeson gave a solid performance as A.A Milne and certainly portrayed the author as a very spirited but difficult person. Margot Robbie wasn't bad either, she gave an above-average performance with a few emotional scenes that she nailed. The rest of the cast gave very solid performances especially, Kelly Macdonald, who portrayed Christopher's nanny.

The film did not include much drama (weirdly) for some reason especially towards the end. The dramatic climax didn't feel as a very important point in the film, even though it was. The direction of the film felt confusing in some moments, I was wondering whether the director was heading for an art house style or a studio style.

Goodbye Christopher Robin is a well worthy biographical movie that captures the essence of childhood and what it means to be famous. Give this one chance.

Score: 7.0/10

65/100

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