Christopher Robin is a cheerful, free-spirited boy who roams the Hundred Acre Wood in Sussex while England loads its guns.

So, after Christopher (portrayed by Ewan McGregor as an adult and Orton O’Brien as a child) grows up, under the care of a stern father and a caring mother, he is forced to leave his childhood behind quicker than most.

Christopher goes to war, marries an architect, Evelyn (Hayley Atwell), bears a daughter, Madeline (Bronte Carmichael), and works in a deadening corporate job for a luggage company.

A movie about a weary soul, Christopher Robin is a cynical critique of the effects of capitalism and how it pulls parents away from their children, which is to say it is a lovely film.

For one thing, it sees the return of Christopher’s childhood friends: Winnie-the-Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings), the perpetually depressed Eeyore (voiced by Brad Garrett, who delivers the best dry humor), the natural leader Rabbit (voiced by Peter Capaldi), the shy Piglet (voiced by Nick Mohammed), the caring Kanga (voiced by Sophie Okonedo), the sweet Roo (voiced by Sara Sheen), the excitable Tigger (voiced by Jim Cummings) and the talkative Owl (voiced by Toby Jones).

Decades after Christopher says goodbye to the Hundred Acre Wood, his friends are still there, never failing to remember him and their adventures together, like when they trapped a heffalump or beat a woozle.

These adventures come from the mind of A.A. Milne, a British writer. He published the first volume of stories as Winnie-the-Pooh in 1926, and followed up with The House at Pooh Corner in 1928. Since then, the character Winnie-the-Pooh has been recast in films, dolls, philosophical ideas and even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The most recent of Pooh’s adventures are contained in Christopher Robin.

In the film, Christopher Robin is a weary man, beaten down by his job that demands he lay off staff to keep his company afloat and that forces him to neglect his family. His motto, “Dreams don’t come from nothing” runs deep; it’s a learned philosophy, not an innate one.

This is until Pooh shows up. Unable to find his friends in the woods, he wanders into London and meets Christopher.

Both recognize each other, but Christopher is not amused.

For Pooh, Christopher is simply a friend who has not been around. What follows next are their adventures to find their friends.

Directed by Marc Forster with a script by Alex Ross Perry and Tom McCarthy from a story by Greg Brooker and Mark Steven Johnson, Christopher Robin is a film that parents and children alike will be able to not only enjoy, but talk about long after the credits roll.

The film is anchored by the tug-of-war in Christopher’s mind — are childhood memories just baggage or something to be cherished?

At one point, Pooh asks Christopher, “did it not make you happy?” referring to a balloon that Pooh finds very amusing. Christopher does not ponder the question for long before answering with an emphatic “no”.

Pooh’s patience says it all. He is, after all, a bear who “has no brain” according to the book.

The film may prompt the adults in the audience to reflect on their own childhoods and the things they have left behind. The power of imagination, it turns out, is always there. The results are affecting and moving.

The Winnie-the-Pooh films are not a franchise, and there is not a clear road ahead for a sequel.

The last movie before Christopher Robin was 2011’s Winnie-the-Pooh. So, when the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood say goodbye to us, as Christopher Robin does to them, we are left with a sense of longing, similar to what they feel toward their brave human friend.

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CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

(Walt Disney Pictures, 2DUX²;104 minutes)

Director: Marc Forster

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Jim Cummings, Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, Nick Mohammed, Brad Garrett, Mark Gatiss, Peter Capaldi, Sophie Okonedo

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