357. Christopher Robin; movie review

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN
Cert PG
104 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild threat, brief war violence

It's been number one at the box office for the past two weeks and it was being shown in Nottingham Cineworld's huge screen 8.
This must surely be an indicator that Marc Forster's Christopher Robin must be very special, thought Mrs W and I as we entered the auditorium on Friday evening.
Sadly, however, I didn't feel the magic which I associate with Winnie The Pooh and his friends.
In a nutshell, Christopher Robin isn't enough fun. It spends too long delving into the unhappy life of its adult title subject and not enough on the antics of the residents of Hundred Acre Wood.
Ewan McGregor plays an unhappy Christopher Robin who has experienced the traumas of a war and is now stuck in a high-pressure London-based job which he loathes.
Unfortunately, he has long since forgotten the love of play and his seriousness has extended to the nurturing of his daughter (Bronte Carmichael).
The twinkle has also gone out of his marriage and his wife (Hayley Atwell) is consistently disappointed with him putting work before home.
Thus, Christopher Robin is caught between a rock and a hard place but just thinks he has made his bed so he'd better lie in it.
Not making it sound very exciting am I?
Well, of course, it all livens up when Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings) enters the scene and struggles to comprehend his friend's complicated life.
As pooh says: "Doing nothing often leads to the very best of something." He adds, innocently: "People say nothing is impossible but I do nothing every day."
Thereafter, he is joined by Tigger, Piglet and co. and the film become much more light-hearted and the giggles flow.
It struck both Mrs W and myself that the makers had tried too hard to make Christopher Robin poignant and laced it with too many well-meaning moral messages.
Indeed, there are too many strands surrounding the relationship of a mum and dad and the pressures of work.
Kids don't care about that - they want to see more crazy adventures in Hundred Acre Wood where imaginations run wild and real life is faraway.

Reasons to watch: If you are a Winnie The Pooh fan
Reasons to avoid: Not as funny as I had hoped

Laughs: Three from us - more from children
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Director quote - Marc Vorster: "I was in a plane with my daughter and we were flying to a vacation and she’s watching an iPad with a Pooh cartoon. She suddenly turned to me and said, hey, can’t you make a movie for kids once? All your movies are dark and for grownups and said I can’t watch any of them."

The big question: How much can be milked out of Winnie The Pooh?

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