Goodbye Christopher Robin
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: October 13, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
12
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 18, 2017
It touches, in a way movies rarely do, on some essential current of life. Read full review
80
EmpireJonathan PileSep 25, 2017
A witty and touching father-son tale. And at its centre: a startling debut from Will Tilston, whose compelling performance ensures its emotional moments land successfully. Read full review
80
Total FilmJames MottramSep 20, 2017
An engrossing biopic. More than just another author/creation story, Curtis’ film has things to say about celebrity, wartime and family. Read full review
80
The TelegraphHelen O'HaraSep 20, 2017
The whole thing reads as an indictment of the sort of upper class upbringing that Milne's children's books idealised, with only paid employees offering worthwhile parental affection. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldOct 19, 2017
Despite the twee being occasionally laid on too thick, Goodbye Christopher Robin is ultimately a pleasant enough wallow in British childhood. Read full review
75
IGNAlex WelchOct 11, 2017
Goodbye Christopher Robin is a good example of how far a film can go with just the talents of its actors and director, even when the script can feel jarring or emotionally uneven. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghOct 12, 2017
Goodbye Christopher Robin is an emotionally layered story about failures in parenting that gave rise to one of our most enduring joys. Read full review
70
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeSep 20, 2017
No one’s going to accuse Goodbye Christopher Robin of subtlety or of rewriting the biopic rules, but it does dare to go darker than most films like it. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovOct 25, 2017
You may want to bring a handkerchief, so boldly manipulative the movie ends up being, but for fans of Pooh and the power of art as therapy during times of existential crises, the story is never less than interesting and melodramatically well-done. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 31, 2017
The film manages to move and touch us, revealing that the books are timeless due to their exquisite, English craftsmanship, their wit and warmth. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 21, 2017
Has some interesting things to say about someone thrust into the spotlight against their will but the sometimes heavy-handed emotional manipulation limits the production’s overall power and effectiveness. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrOct 18, 2017
A stuffy, treacly, overproduced slab of High British twaddle, it nevertheless reduced most of a recent preview audience to what the film itself calls “blubbing.” Even a flinthearted movie critic could be seen to dab his eyes from time to time. Read full review
63
Washington PostJane HorwitzOct 11, 2017
Though Goodbye Christopher Robin has moments of delight and even profundity, and looks-PBS pretty, too often it stumbles. Read full review
60
Time OutAnna SmithOct 13, 2017
Macdonald, playing an outsider with wisdom, is by far the most sympathetic character; the movie has plenty to say about the parenting traditions of the wealthy, not much of it favorable. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 20, 2017
All of this is reasonably interesting, but not as dramatic as it ought to be. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenSep 20, 2017
It's the chemistry between Domhnall Gleeson and newcomer Will Tilston, as the awkwardly matched father and son, that makes the movie more than a mélange of inept parenting and Tigger too. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 19, 2017
Goodbye Christopher Robin is a film of rough edges and jagged twists, at times beautiful to behold but more often shot in jarring close-ups that make Christopher Robin’s parents look like the villains in a gothic horror film. Read full review
50
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonOct 19, 2017
I give Goodbye Christopher Robin credit for presenting audiences with a Pooh origins story they might not want to see, but having settled on this subject, the movie seems uncertain how to proceed. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyKevin P. SullivanOct 14, 2017
The film’s main conflict is with its source material, twisting and wringing Milne’s life for everything it’s worth and hoping enough is squeezed out to qualify as a film. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaOct 13, 2017
What could have been a salute to the power of imagination to heal damaged souls and broken relationships instead opts to focus on tragic events. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorOct 12, 2017
We all love Winnie the Pooh; that is why we are interested in the story of the real Christopher Robin. To learn that public affection all but destroyed his childhood makes an audience uncomfortably complicit in this cuddle-free origin story of the world's most famous teddy bear. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangOct 12, 2017
If you do see the movie, by all means surrender to its portrait of an earlier era of toxic celebrity culture, and also to the bracing nastiness of the central performances. Read full review
50
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 22, 2017
We’re left with something handsome but safe, a film that tries to bridge the gap between children’s characters and adult concerns without ever anchoring itself to either side. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyOct 11, 2017
Director Simon Curtis, the purveyor of such middlebrow fluff as Woman In Gold and My Week With Marilyn, lays the sentimental hues and sunbeams on thick, hoping that someone will give a sh-t. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNov 2, 2017
Unwieldy and awkward. If you want to like this story, you'd better expect to have to work for it. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineDerek SmithSep 30, 2017
A sweet ode to childhood innocence turning sour upon its introduction to the public is an intriguing notion, but Simon Curtis incomprehensibly crams the events of Christopher’s early childhood stardom, his difficulty coping with the ubiquity of his namesake’s legacy, and his ultimate defiance of his father into less than one-third of the film. Read full review
30
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisOct 11, 2017
Erratically paced and with a pitch-black heart, the movie manipulates at every turn. Read full review
30
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganSep 20, 2017
Goodbye Christopher Robin doesn’t just lack authenticity, it appears to scorn it. Read full review
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