Vi presento Christopher Robin

I watched this wondering if it was going to be a dull, forgettable period piece or a tedious biopic and was very surprised just how good it actually was.

This is a really solid film with good performances and nicely directed. The plot concerns the true story of the life of the young Christopher Robin and the changing relationship he has with his parents in the 1920s.

It blends the mental trauma his father has been living with since his WW1 experience, and Christopher Robin's own traumatic childhood, both of witnessing his own parent's fractious relationship and then the deep unhappiness of having his life turned upside down when his fathers book, Winnie the Pooh, becomes an enormous and unexpected worldwide hit and inadvertently makes a celebrity of Christopher Robin.

This is a film primarily about family relationships and it is extremely well written too. Will Tilston, who plays Christopher Robin at 8 years old, puts in an exceptionally competent and sweet performance that makes you genuinely feel for the character.He finds the only person who actually understands and shares his anguish is his nanny, Olive (Kelly MacDonald). Olive too notices how unhappy Christopher Robin becomes but her pleas fall on deaf ears.

The only real flaw in any of the characterizations is Margot Robbie's turn as Daphne, Christopher Robin's mother. Whilst Domnhall Gleeson's AA Milne at least has some back story to explain why his mentally tortured writer is struggling to shake off his demons and thus oblivious to his son's reluctant celebrity status, Daphne comes across as somebody who is a bit cold and shallow and has no problems with watching her son get exploited to make the book a success. This may of course be what she was really like but the film doesn't dig very deep into her character. However this is a minor quibble in an otherwise well made film.

There are moments of humour in the script and no bad language so I expect this film will appeal to older audiences as well as families. The film is also just about the right length too if you like a good old fashioned biopic/drama. There is also a moral at the heart of this tale about the need to let children have a normal childhood, which is very much applicable even now.

While not entirely perfect, this film is one that I will definitely watch again.

It had strange resonances for me personally, as my grandmother was a famous and celebrated author, who used me as inspiration for several of her children's books, and also as a subject for one of her academic books for adults.

During my early childhood, I spent many happy days playing imaginative games with my grandmother - always followed around by a photographer - and those games became the basis for her stories, with the photographs of me used to illustrate them. At the time I was quite happy about this, as it made me feel special, but I am now very well aware that I was being exploited.

Like Christopher Robin, I was never asked permission to be in her books, nor was I ever paid (although I inherited a modest amount of money when she died, so I suppose that could be considered payment of sorts).

Unlike Christopher Robin, I never resented the books I was in, and I never felt that my childhood memories had been stolen or commercialised. But my situation was never as drastic as his, and my grandmother's celebrity didn't even come close to that of A.A. Milne. However, there are enough parallels to have given me a few shivers while watching this movie.

Others have commented on its excellence, so I won't belabour that point, except to say that I agree. As a film it is beautifully crafted and (for me anyway) endlessly re-watchable.

I disagree with the negative comments about the stilted acting. If anything I felt they needed to be more stilted to be properly true to the period. I do agree that Margo Robbie's accent was uneven, but performance-wise I felt she did very well in what was perhaps the hardest role to perform convincingly.

As others have mentioned, the best performances came from the two boys playing Christopher Robin, although I also particularly liked Stephen Campbell Moore's understated warmth, and - for the first time in her career- I actually found myself liking Kelly Macdonald, an actress who has irritated me in every other film in which I've seen her. Here she exudes warmth and tenderness, and in a well-pitched and technically difficult performance manages to display undercurrents of disapproval and sympathy to the audience without over-egging the pudding.

The cinematography by Ben Smithard also bears special mention, bringing to the screen a subtle yet richly evocative atmosphere of nostalgia and childhood innocence without sacrificing realism or becoming overly stylised.

In fact, one of this film's many technical merits is the fine balance it achieves between all its various flavours and ingredients; each one subtle and understated, yet combining to create a rich and satisfying whole.

As an overall viewing experience it has much to recommend it, and very little about which to complain.

Not having any serious connection with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and the rest of the children's story, Winnie the Pooh, I am perhaps even more ready than its devotees to admire Goodbye Christopher Robin. It's a biopic of great sensitivity that mixes nostalgia for the most popular children's book ever with the harshness of two world wars and the practice of parents leaving their children with nannies in the first quarter of the 20th century.

I now wish I had a stronger relationship with those little critters and that lovable boy, for I could have used the distraction from the aftermath of WWII just as Pooh was able to do for the world after the war to end all wars. Author A.A. Milne (a stoic and yet lovable Domhnall Gleeson) was traumatized by his service in the war, and moved slowly to erase that PTSD while creating Pooh. The film spends too much time on his trauma, but it does help fill out Milne's character.

Yet, this is the story of Billy Moon (a remarkably-dimpled, serene Will Tilston), as Christopher Robin is called in real life, who supplies his dad with inspirations for the book. The film centers on remote dad's growing love for the boy and the book while remote mom goes off to London to do who knows what. The film carefully shows how children might be lucky to have a nanny like Neu (Kelly Macdonald) to give them love and some creative inspiration along the way.

Goodbye Christopher Robin is a successful biopic because it doesn't spare the story of anti-helicopter parents who endanger the mental health of their children with their absences. As fame overtakes the Milne family, the film still relays the sense of wonderment Billy had as a child immersed in love of his forest, animals, and imagination.

The biopic may be counter to what we expected of a world-renowned author of a book for children. That he had difficulty initially interacting with his own child is unusual, but the film is successful showing how he warms up and creates a masterpiece as well.

Though not always a feel good movie, Goodbye Christopher Robin makes you wish he'd never go away. It looks like he never will.

Goodbye Christopher Robin touched me personally and helped me to remember what life is really about. It touches on the trauma that can affect those closest to us. It shows how hard and long those times can affect our lives and those around us. The casting and acting was spot on for me. I could relate to the characters and could relate to their situation.

It reminded me in some ways of "Finding Mr Banks", but touched me more deeply. There are movies you go to watch to escape the real world. This was a movie that helped me to remember what is important in this world and feel better for it.

It was touching, heart breaking and had times that all parents can relate to. In the end it showed me how important it is to spend time with your children.

It is a movie I will be adding to my collection.

Goodbye Christopher Robin is in many ways a missed opportunity. It appears that if this film was rewritten and redirected it could have been an exceptional film. It had the elements of a great gripping story and an origin story to one of the most beloved children's stories of all time. This film presented a unique perspective, background and aftermath surround Winnie the Pooh. Too much attention was placed on Christopher's childhood and development of the story and far less on its aftermath which based on the title seemed to be the point of the story. More time could have been devoted to Christopher's adolescence and Christopher himself rather than the creative process and post war trauma faced by A A Milne. The film takes its time in building itself up only to rush towards its climax. It was passable but not exceptional and it very well could have been.