There comes a time in your childhood where you’re forced to use your imagination. As children, most of us have created a fictional character in our minds for a variety of reasons, such as for comfort or to tell secrets. IF follows a young girl by the name of Bea (Cailey Fleming) who begins to see people’s imaginary friends once their “person” has grown up and forgotten them. Ryan Reynolds stars as Cal and is the only other human who can see these characters, like Bea. They both embark on a whirlwind journey to reunite these imaginary friends, known as “ifs” with their adult counterparts. The main IF is Blue, voiced by a hilariously quirky Steve Carrell.
While you’d assume the film would start off all bubbly and fun, the opening sequence does quite the opposite. We are given an inside look at Bea’s life as a young girl with her parents shown through video footage. The somber music leads you to understand that something isn’t right in the present day, as we later learn what has changed in the 12 year old’s life.
While on the surface you’d think you’re stepping into a kid’s flick full of bright colorful characters and goofy jokes, you soon realize it’s much more than that. The deeper message at hand is so heartwarming and is enough to bring tears to your eyes as you think back to your own childhood. While we grow up and no longer rely on make believe, IF shows us how some imaginary friend’s helped people through some tough times.
Carrell gives us goofy dialogue that keeps the chuckles going while he is on screen. He is perhaps the only voice recognizable without having to search on IMDB. The voice cast is stacked with big names that include Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Blake Lively, George Clooney, Jon Stewart, Maya Rudolph, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge just to name a few. While there is some huge star power on deck, they did not add to the overall project at hand. There could have been 12–15 fresh new names attached, and it really wouldn’t have made a difference. They did very little to enhance the experience or make the characters more lovable, so Paramount could have saved some of their budget in that department.
What was ultimately surprising given the lack of his appearance in the trailers is director and star John Krasinski, who plays Bea’s father. He is an absolute delight every time he is on screen and genuinely was a big contribution to the warmth of IF. His ability to code switch from humorous to charismatic was the cheat code to his stand out performance. Krasinski mentioned on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he wrote the movie “to show his kids somebody always has their backs.”
Reynolds is a treat as well. It is a pleasure to see him in a lighthearted role, opposite of the persona we often associate him with (mind you, the raunchy, not suitable for kids Deadpool and Wolverine trailer recently dropped). Nonetheless, he still has his witty one liners and facial expressions that remind us he is capable of delivering PG comedy.
While the third act was filled with moments that’ll send parents and adult viewers into a frenzy of waterworks, there were some questionable pieces. It is quite possible that one should overlook such things and just enjoy the film at hand, but I was left thinking this quite a bit. Bea is a 12 year old kid, so seeing her venture off into New York on her own bothered me because it is quite concerning. To add to that, she is roaming these streets day and night with Cal, a grown man she met only days ago. I kept wondering, “How is grandma allowing this, and where does she assume she is the entire time?”
I simply can not stress enough that what really works for IF is the surprise message at its core. It is more than a kids movie — it’s a beautifully crafted memoir to the creative child within all of us. We each have different memories of what our imaginary friend was, yet IF propels us all to a time in our life where we experienced the happiness and joy of an imaginary friend. The final minutes are the most beautiful moments written into any project whose target audience is kids. Krasinski deserves his flowers for creating something for children with a message deep enough to resonate with adults.
While I can’t see a grown up purchasing a ticket to IF solo dolo, I highly recommend grabbing the family and making an outing out of seeing this film. The message of never being alone and blissful childhood memories will hit an adult right in the feels while it will be overlooked by the kiddos. Safe to say there is something in it for all ages as it does exactly what it’s meant to do without trying to be an overly dramatic think piece within a kid’s flick.
You can catch IF in theaters May 17, 2024.