Christopher Robin Is 'Silliness Worth Savoring'

Disney's Christopher Robin sees its adult namesake (Ewan McGregor) reunited with his childhood friend Winnie the Pooh (Jim Cummings) outside the Hundred Acre Wood and just in time, as life in post-World War II London is pretty gloomy. What critics are saying about Marc Forster's latest:

• "It's a movie every bit as messy as its 'hunny'-craving bear, though only somewhat as lovable," writes Christopher Lawrence at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. As it meshes "a somber, artsy meditation on lost childhoods" with a second half meant to engage kids, "the end result may be discordant … but Christopher Robin still is worth 'oh, bother'-ing to see," he writes.
• Tom Russo at the Boston Globe calls it "an appealing new spin" on Winnie the Pooh's world. Appearing much like the vintage book illustrations by EH Shepard, "the CG-animated Pooh and friends… steal the show," he writes, noting the script adds "a contemporary flair that's funny without being obtrusive."

• "Younger kids might grow a bit fidgety" as the film "gets off to a somewhat slow start," writes Brian Lowry at CNN. Once it gets going, though, it offers "a genuine sweetness" and serves as "a reminder of the simple pleasures of hanging out with family and a talking bear, which, in these frenetic times, is the kind of silliness that's worth savoring."
• But Odie Henderson could've done without "another movie built on the pseudo-psychological cliché that adults need to reconnect with their childhoods in order to be better adults," especially one led by the Hundred Acre Wood's "least memorable character." "It feels as if reality has invaded the Hundred Acre Wood and sullied it," he writes at RogerEbert.com, giving the film two stars.

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