Goodbye Christopher Robin
British release poster
Directed bySimon Curtis
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBen Smithard
Edited byVictoria Boydell
Music byCarter Burwell[1]
Production
companies
Distributed bySearchlight Pictures
Release dates
Running time
107 minutes[2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budgetunder $3 million[3]
Box office$7.2 million[4]

Goodbye Christopher Robin is a 2017 British biographical drama film about the lives of Winnie-the-Pooh creator A. A. Milne and his family, especially his son Christopher Robin. It was directed by Simon Curtis and written by Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Simon Vaughan, and stars Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, and Kelly Macdonald. The film premiered in the United Kingdom on 29 September 2017. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $7.2 million at the box office.

Plot

During World War II in 1941, Alan Alexander Milne – nicknamed "Blue" by his friends and family – and his wife Daphne receive a distressing telegram at their home. The story begins in 1916 during World War I with Blue fighting in the Battle of the Somme. Blue resumes his life with Daphne in England while suffering shell shock with occasional flashbacks to his battle experiences, and has a child with Daphne. Daphne appears traumatised by the birth as the midwife says "she didn't understand the mechanics" of giving birth. She was also hoping for a girl and is disappointed to instead have a son. They name the baby Christopher Robin Milne, but generally call him "Billy Moon". They hire a nanny, Olive Rand, whom Billy calls "Nou". At Olive's job interview, Daphne says how wonderful it is that whilst the war killed so many men, it means there are a great number of women such as Olive who will never marry and can therefore be of service to others.

Blue is having difficulty resuming his writing – he wants to draft a compelling treatise against war – and relocates the family to a house in the country with wooded acreage. Daphne resents the move and returns to London for an extended period. During that time, Olive goes to care for her dying mother and the cook takes some time off, leaving Blue and Billy to fend for themselves. Reluctantly at first, Blue takes Billy along on walks in the woods and begins making up stories about the boy's adventures with the plush toy animals the parents have bought for him.

Blue invites his illustrator friend Ernest to join them at the house, and together they begin to develop the Winnie-the-Pooh books. Daphne returns to the house after Blue sends her a poem, "Vespers", that she has had published for him in Vanity Fair. Olive returns following her mother's death. After the Winnie-the-Pooh books become a success, Daphne manages their new-found celebrity and readily accepts extra opportunities to generate publicity and income, for example, a line of Winnie the Pooh bears, or an opportunity to have tea with 'Christopher Robin'. As Christopher Robin, Billy makes frequent public appearances, which he finds confusing and frustrating.

When Billy learns that Olive has a beau, Alfred Brockwell, he tells his parents, after which Daphne feels betrayed and confronts Olive nastily. Olive becomes angry with Blue and Daphne, resigns, and admonishes them for what they have been putting Billy through. Blue resolves to stop writing about the boy and his imaginary friends. Olive leaves and Billy's mother tells him not to cry.

Blue ends Billy's publicity activities and enrolls him at a boarding school. However, "Christopher Robin" is bullied at the school and emerges bitter toward his father. When World War II breaks out, Billy is initially declared medically unfit for service, but he demands that his well-connected father – despite being horrified by war and the prospect of his son experiencing what he did – convince the army to accept him regardless. Billy leaves for service, turning his back on his father and disowning the books and the money from them. He gives Blue the cricket ball from the one match they played together where they 'connected'. Blue tries to stop him going at the last moment but it is too late.

The telegram from the opening scene is revisited: Billy has been reported missing and is presumed dead – news Blue passes to Olive, who is distraught. Billy's parents are both devastated by the news; Daphne blames Blue for having made it possible to send Billy off to the war. Relations between them are once again strained. However, Billy has survived and arrives at the country house without warning, leading to awkward but tearful reunions with his parents and Olive. Blue and Billy reconcile as Billy tells his father how one of Billy's fellow soldiers, in the desert under enemy fire, sang one of the 'Hums of Pooh' which made him realise that his father's storybook was a gift to the world which enabled British soldiers to remember the simple happy things about home. Father and son walk together through the woods, Billy being shown as both a young child and young man.

Cast

Production

Development on the project first began in 2010, with Steve Christian and Nuala Quinn-Barton, and subsequently Damian Jones, as producers. Simon Vaughan wrote the screenplay.[5][6]

In April 2016, Domhnall Gleeson entered discussions to star as A. A. Milne.[7] He and Margot Robbie were confirmed to star in June 2016, with her as Milne's wife Daphne.[8] Kelly Macdonald joined the film as Olive, Christopher Robin's nanny, later in the month.[9]

Filming began in September 2016.[10]

Release

The film was released in the UK on 29 September 2017,[11] and in the US on 13 October 2017.[12]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 64% based on 181 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Goodbye Christopher Robin struggles to balance wartime tension and childlike wonder, but offers valuable insight into the darkness shadowing the creation of a classic children's tale."[13] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[14]

The Economist gave the film a mixed review, writing that "As in so many middlebrow period dramas, the vintage cars are too shiny, the clothes too smart, the upper-class accents too strained and the dialogue too contrived. However dark the plot becomes, the sun keeps shining brightly through the trees. You are never allowed to forget that you are watching a traditional piece of tourist-friendly British heritage cinema." The review praised it, however, stating that, "There aren't many films that demonstrate how a phenomenal professional success can also be the most catastrophic personal failure; there certainly aren't many that revolve around a collection of cuddly toys."[15]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipients Result Ref.
British Independent Film Awards 10 December 2017 Best Supporting Actress Kelly Macdonald Nominated [16]
Heartland Film Festival 20 November 2017 Truly Moving Picture Award Goodbye Christopher Robin Won [17]
Mill Valley Film Festival 16 October 2017 Audience Award — World Cinema Won [18]

See also

  • A Bear Named Winnie – a 2004 made-for-television drama film about the real-life bear Winnipeg, with Vaughan also acting as a writer and producer.
  • Christopher Robin – a 2018 fictional film made by the Walt Disney Company about the character named after Christopher Robin Milne.

References

  1. ↑ "Carter Burwell to Score Simon Curtis' 'Goodbye Christopher Robin'". Film Music Reporter. 1 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Goodbye Christopher Robin". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  3. ↑ Danielle Solzman· (16 October 2017). "Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017) REVIEW". Cultured Vultures.
  4. ↑ "Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)". The Numbers. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  5. ↑ "U.K. sets Pooh scribe saga". Variety. Dave McNary. 7 May 2010.
  6. ↑ "Winnie the Pooh creator biopic hits Cannes". Screen Daily. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  7. ↑ Jaafar, Ali (13 April 2016). "'Star Wars' Domhnall Gleeson in Talks To Play Winnie The Pooh Creator AA Milne In 'Goodbye Christopher Robin'". Deadline. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  8. ↑ Jaafar, Ali (14 June 2016). "Fox Searchlight Confirms Domhnall Gleeson And Margot Robbie To Star in Winnie The Pooh Creator Pic 'Goodbye Christopher Robin'". Deadline. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Kelly Macdonald Joins 'Goodbye Christopher Robin' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "Check out Domhnall Gleeson and Margot Robbie in a new A. A. Milne & Christopher Robin film". Live for Films. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  11. ↑ Alexander, Ella (28 September 2017). "Margot Robbie explains when is too young to be a child star". Harper's Bazaar. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  12. ↑ Jenna Busch (8 June 2017). "Death Wish, The Mountain Between Us and More Get Release Changes, Dates". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  13. ↑ "Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "Goodbye Christopher Robin Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  15. ↑ Prospero (29 September 2017). "Winnie-the-Pooh brought joy to readers, but misery to the Milnes". The Economist. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  16. ↑ "'Lady Macbeth' Leads British Independent Film Awards Nominations – Full List". Deadline Hollywood. November 2017.
  17. ↑ "Truly Moving Picture Award". Heartlandfilm.org.
  18. ↑ "Mudbound Wins 2017 Mill Valley Film Festival Audience Award". AwardsWatch.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
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