Did you ever have an imaginary friend? “IF” tells the story of Bea, played by an extraordinary Cailey Fleming, and her imaginary friends. Ryan Reynolds plays Cal, and together, they help lonely and forgotten imaginary friends find new homes in this current world, where people don’t use their imagination like they should.
When children grow up, they forget their “IF,” and they end up in a retirement home. Steve Carrell is the voice of the giant, purple, and furry creature called Blue, the kids’ favorite in this film, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge is Blossom, a butterfly that looks like Betty Boop.
Brooklyn, New York, is where Bea’s grandmother (Fiona Shaw) lives. She stays with her while her dad, played by John Krasinski, is in the hospital to fix his heart “that is broken.” Bea lost her mom already, so this was terrifying for her. Then, she meets Cal and his animated friends, and life seems to improve. Bea teams up with them and soon finds herself at the Memory Lane Retirement Community for Ifs in a secret place in Coney Island. There we have all these forgotten Imaginary Friends, and the voices of these characters are an impressive list.
It seems that everyone wants to be the voice of an animated character or they just want to work with Krasinski: Emily Blunt is a unicorn, Matt Damon is a flower, Maya Rudolph is a pink alligator, George Clooney is an Astronaut, Sam Rockwell is a superhero dog, Brad Pitt is an invisible Blob (!), Keegan-Michael Key is green slime, Louis Gosset Jr is an old teddy bear, Jon Stewart is a robot, Bradley Cooper is a glass of ice water, Amy Schumer is gummy Bear, Blake Lively is a cat in an octopus costume, Matthew Rhys is a ghost, and Awkwafina is a soap bubble.
Krasinski is also behind the “A Quiet Place” films, which are definitely for parents’ eyes, so maybe he wanted to entertain the entire family. The film’s basic idea is good, but it could’ve gone a little deeper with the forgotten IFs. We’ve seen forgotten toys in “Toy Story” and imaginary friends in “Inside Out,” as well.
With a significant number of exciting voice actors and characters, “IF” could’ve gone to the next level easily, and maybe there is more to come of these characters. Fewer characters with more profound stories would’ve been the perfect solution for this film. All the ingredients are there.
DP Janusz Kamiński’s work is always lovely to watch, and the score by Michael Giacchino was incredible, not to mention Jess Gonchor’s beautiful and detailed production design.
This film is entertaining, and little kids like it. Grown-ups might find it predictable, but maybe it’s not a problem. This is a feel-good movie that might generate interesting conversations with kids.
