Daily Times

Families have been turning out in droves for Disney’s animated classics for generations — and as the grosses for live-action “reimaginings” like The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast have taught us, the studio can just as effectively mine box office gold out of flesh-and-blood versions of these stories. The studio hopes to extend that streak with this weekend’s Christopher Robin, starring Ewan McGregor as a grown-up version of Winnie the Pooh’s old pal, worn down by adult life and desperately in need of a little childhood magic. Naturally, a certain honey-loving bear resurfaces in Christopher’s life, reminding him of simpler times… and throwing a stuffed-with-fluff monkey wrench into a very important week at the office. It’s the type of setup we’ve seen play out in scores of family-friendly films over the years, and sticking the landing between “heartwarming” and “cloying” can be tricky, but critics say Christopher Robin does a fairly commendable job managing that balancing act, even if the film doesn’t quite measure up to the original stories by A.A. Milne. If you feel like it’s been too long since you visited the Hundred Acre Wood with this willy nilly silly old bear and his lovable menagerie of animal friends, a little critical bother probably won’t keep you from buying a ticket.

Published in Daily Times, August 5^th 2018.