By Emilio Frenk.
Director: Simon Curtis
Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, Will Tilston, Kelly Macdonald, Richard McCabe, Stephen Campbell Moore, Alex Lawther and Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Rating: Very Good.
Simon Curtis, director of 2015´s “Woman in Gold” brings “Goodbye Christopher Robin” a drama that brings very interesting results.
Based on true events the movie tells the story of Alan Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) a successful English writer who suffers constantly from experiences that he lived while he was fighting for his country in World War I.
Him and his wife Daphne (Margot Robbie) decide to move from London to the countryside with their newborn Christopher Robin and her eventually nanny Olive (Kelly Macdonald).
Alan will create the stories that are related to his son´s imagination of his toys specially his teddy bear which he will name Winnie.
That´s how Alan will find inspiration of creating “Winnie The Pooh”, the series of books that became one of the most important children´s book till this day and a huge phenomenon.
One of the things that I really liked of “Goodbye Christopher Robin” is the mood of the picture, and the performances Domhnall Gleeson and Margot Robbie who have given the best so far of their careers.
With this the movie has a great screenplay written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Simon Vaughan who showed a side of Alan Milne that we didn´t know.
I loved the fact how we show a man who still has PTSD and an internal struggle with himself due to the experiences that he lived during the war.
I loved how the movie got in detail and told the necessary since this kind of movies have the tendency of being slow paced. This was not the case here.
The performance of young Will Tilston, who plays Christopher Robin is very convincing and I believe this boy has a future if he continues in this path.
Simon Curis´s directing was sharp and his actors gave very convincing performances. He was really smart on telling from Alan Milne´s point of view.
When I walked in the theater I barely knew what the movie was going to be about. I knew the basics that it was about the author of “Winnie The Pooh” that was pretty much it. I really enjoyed and I was pleased with the film.
The message of this movie is powerful and I was very moved from the film when I watched it.
The climatic scene when Alan Milne is with his grown up son is very well written and is one of the scenes that I have been touched.
I love the fact that this movie doesn´t get into cheesy or cliché moments and it works at all levels.
“Goodbye Christopher Robin” is one the surprises of this year and I highly recommend it for the performances, screenplay and Simon Curtis`s directing.