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Movie Review: The Poignancy Of “Goodbye Christopher Robin” Is Simple And Beautiful

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A behind-the-scenes look at the life of author A.A. Milne and the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories inspired by his son C.R. Milne.

Nearly anyone and everyone knows that Winnie the Pooh is a much-loved character, along with his boy, Christopher Robin. The honey-loving bear and the boy with the red balloon have reached into millions of hearts, becoming a source of childlike wonder and simplicity that many have returned to even long after childhood has faded away. From the Tao of Pooh to Winnie the Pooh cookbooks, Winnie far exceeded the hopes and expectations of A.A. Milne and even his son, the real Christopher Robin.

But behind every adored fictional character there is another story, often of struggle and heartache…a story of losing and belonging, of fighting and cherishing, of doing your best even though your best will never be enough…a story of being adored by all the wrong people and rarely being adored by the right people. This is the story of A.A. Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) and his son, C.R. (Will Tilston and Alex Lawther), also affectionately known as “Billy Moon.”

A.A. Milne fights in the war to end all wars and manages to survive, although forever haunted by what we know better today as PTSD. He is a writer of comedy, but after the war, can’t stomach the nonchalance any longer and wants desperately to not only escape the horrors of his mind but to also make certain that war can never happen again. Against his fashionable London wife’s (Margot Robbie) wishes, he retreats the family to a country home in East Sussex. She also vehemently protests his desire to write anti-war literature. Instead, he finds reprieve in the innocence of his son and Winnie the Pooh soon comes to life.

But what happens next is unexpected as fame may be a harder devil to manage than PTSD. In an ironic twist of fate, his nightmares become reality when his son, determined to escape his own PTSD as the “real” Christopher Robin, enlists in the Second World War. War has returned and his son may be lost forever.

The reason films inspired by true stories are so touching is because they are so human, so flawed, so bitterly real and yet also wonderfully beautiful. Winnie the Pooh was first a simple bond between a father and a son, then a raging success among the masses, then the curse of fame that tears a family apart, then the comforting melody of a lost childhood in the trenches of war. There are always at least five sides to every story, and undoubtedly, many, many more. Winnie the Pooh is a story near and dear to many of us, but don’t miss the story of the man who wrote the story. You may even find that the words of our favorite boy and bear are that much more true and more heartfelt when you know the story behind the story.

In select theaters November 3rd

 

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