Directing: B
Acting: B+
Writing: B-
Cinematography: B+
Editing: B

When a movie comes out purporting to tell the "untold story," particularly behind something like a beloved series of children's books, it's natural to expect something equal parts touching and charming. When it's done well, that's the way it tends to go.

Goodbye Christopher Robin takes a different approach. For that reason, perhaps a warning is in order: this movie is sadder than you might expect. It tells the story of how Winne the Pooh came to be, and the real little boy on which Christopher Robin was based, but then it focuses heavily on how his being used as a prop to publicize the books put a strain on his relationship with his parents, and particularly his relationship with his father -- author Alan Milne.

The characters are very well cast. Domhall Gleeson plays Alan Milne, giving his PTSD from World War I a severely controlled intensity, which clearly has an effect on his ability to be very affectionate with his son. Margot Robbie plays Milne's wife, Daphne, and it's hard to decide whether she's worthy of sympathy or just self-involved and neglectful. Kelly Macdonald is always a welcome face, here as Olive, the nanny young Christopher Robin becomes closer to than his own parents. Will Tilston is stupendous as the young Christopher Robin.

A lot is made of real names vs made-up names. Christopher Robin is the boy's legal name, but his parents call him Billy Moon. When Alan Milne decides to write books based on their adventures in the woods, he uses "Christopher Robin" as a way to separate the real kid from the fictional one -- even though, ironically, Christopher Robin is his real name. Meanwhile, Billy calls his dad "Blue," like his friends do. This is not a family with normal terms of endearment.

Milne wants to write a treatise against war, but has a bit of writer's block, even after moving out to the country in an effort to eliminate distractions. Billy asks him to write a book for him, and ultimately, he does: the Winnie the Pooh series. Maybe half this movie focuses on that particular journey. And then the focus shifts to Billy becoming recognized as the "real Christopher Robin" by a world rapt by the books. Billy's parents make the misguided decision to bring him on press tours, and present time with him as the prize in toy store sweepstakes.

As you might imagine, Billy grows up resentful. Eventually we see Billy as an 18-year-old, and Alex Lawther makes the most of his screen time as the older Billy, which makes up maybe a quarter of the story. He gets made fun of an picked on by kids in school and grows up miserable.

We are meant to expect that Billy has died in action in World War II. This is not a spoiler; the film starts with Alan and Daphne receiving notice that their son is missing and presumed dead. This ultimately becomes part of a cheap, emotionally manipulative twist offered by the story in the end. Even with it being surprisingly sad overall -- though never oppressively so -- this shift in gears is plainly disappointing, in terms of satisfying storytelling.

Until then, however, Goodbye Christopher Robin is still plenty engaging, and often quite lovely to look at, with lush cinematography and an overall pleasant mood, until relationships are strained. This is an odd little movie in that it's neither as bright and sunny as you might expect, nor is it as much of a bummer as you fear it will be in the end. This gives sort of even things out, albeit with some tonal inconsistency. It's a compelling story, at least, its slightly gnawing flaws notwithstanding. It helps that all the actors are, in their way, effectively comforting.

***Christopher Robin and his dad have different intentions for one Pooh Bear.***

Overall: B