John Krasinski has finally released his highly anticipated third film, IF. After debuting with A Quiet Place, and later following that up with A Quiet Place 2, the obvious next step for him was an uninspired Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends knockoff.
This review will contain spoilers for IF.
What’s IF?
IF follows a young girl named Bea (Cailey Fleming) who, after the death of her mother and hospitalization of her father (John Krasinski), stays at her grandmother’s (Fiona Shaw) apartment during this turbulent period of time. Strange things are afoot in the complex as Bea catches glimpses of a cartoon butterfly named Blossom (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) making a break for a locked door on the top floor of the building. Bea meets Cal (Ryan Reynolds) who lives in this mysterious room and serves as a match-maker for forgotten imaginary friends (IFs for short). Together Bea and Cal work to give all the IFs a child to belong to.
None of my problems with this film come from any performances, everyone is playing their parts decently at the very least. Fiona Shaw actually has a pretty moving scene as the unnamed grandmother. Cailey Fleming is trying her best with a shoddy script. Surprisingly, Steve Carell’s Blue isn’t annoying the entire runtime as he dials it back about halfway into the film. Ryan Reyonds pretty much plays himself in the role of Cal.
Feeling Blue
My major issue from this film comes down to the story. At the beginning of the film Bea wants nothing to do with any creativity, she tells her grandmother that she doesn’t care to look at any art she made as a younger kid, and whenever she visits her hospitalized father he brushes off any fun that he is attempting to have. This could set up an interesting character arc… if the movie cared enough to follow through on it. All the stuff about Bea not being interested with her creative side is tossed out the window fairly quickly once she meets Cal and visits the IF’s retirement home. From that point forward there is nearly zero character progression.
I am also not sure entirely who the movie is for as well. IF is far too cutesy to be targeted towards adults, but also too deep and deals with things kids haven’t experienced much really either. About halfway into the film Cal and Bea pivot their focus on making the long forgotten IFs be remembered by their now all grown up former kids. The question here is, what kid will find this relatable? Most children aren’t working monotonous office jobs that are devoid of any joy, so why is the movie pivoting focus onto these adults reconnecting with their inner child?
Tripped Up (Over Keith)
The movie also doesn’t follow its own plot-critical internal logic; when the IFs are forgotten by their kids, they become invisible until a strong memory can bring them back. With that said, and spoilers for those who care, in the third act it is revealed that Cal is actually the IF of Bea. Now, Bea has long forgotten about Cal, which if we are following the logic set up in the film directly, means that this whole time Cal should not be visible to Bea whatsoever. It’s frustrating that the film puts no effort into such important moments. It might seem silly for me to get this mad about a children’s film but kids deserve to have well thought out movies too.
Overall the film is a big stumble from Krasinski whose work I’ve found mildly enjoyable in the past.
IF is now playing in theaters. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Cailey Fleming, Fiona Shaw, and the voices of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr., and Steve Carell.
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