Lifestyle and Culture editor, Bella Davis, switches to Arts this week and takes a look at Simon Curtis’ latest weepy.

Some stories are so good; you wish they would never end and the tales of the wondrous 100-acre woods are no different. I really don’t think there are many people out there that haven’t heard of the worldwide phenomenon that is Winnie-the-Pooh and now the best-loved book of all time now has a deep, dark and beautiful film counterpart.

I am sure you can imagine people’s delight at the thought of a behind-the-scenes look at the world’s most famous teddy bear and it became all too apparent from the get go that Goodbye Christopher Robin was not going to be all teddy bears and picnics.

The film tells the story of how Pooh bear came to be. Every element of the books are, in fact, real to someone, whether it be Christopher Robin himself (who was author A. A. Milne’s real son), the 100-acre woods where the Milne family lived or Pooh bear, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and all the other characters who were based on toys gifted to Christopher Robin. A. A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) and Daphne Milne (Margot Robbie) play deeply moving roles as the parents of Christopher Robin who didn’t exactly parent to the best of their abilities. Furthermore, the dimple cheeked Christopher Robin was played stunningly by Will Tilston who is the epitome of cuteness. At times the plot had me falling about in laughter with the father and son duo but I was knocked back to reality with the stark contrasting war scenes that engulf Milne from when Milne served as an officer in World War One. It is easy to picture the sadness and melancholic outlook Eeyore (a donkey) has on life once you have watched the film.

Director Simon Curtis is no stranger to historical dramas with the likes of My Week with Marylyn and Women in Gold under his belt and it is clear to see he has no shame (and so he shouldn’t) in shedding light on issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, family dysfunction, fame and all its flaws and a grieving country that was in grave need of something good and sweet as honey to hold on to when recovering from the ‘Great War’.  A beautiful film all the same, Goodbye Christopher Robin has the potential to be a future family favourite that will have the audience blinking back tears, smiling, chuckling and dreaming all rolled into one.

(Image courtesy of Indie Wire)