On a mission: Ryan Reynolds, Cailey Fleming and an imaginary friend who needs their help. Photo / Supplied
On a mission: Ryan Reynolds, Cailey Fleming and an imaginary friend who needs their help. Photo / Supplied
Film review: Written and directed by Nice Dad John Krasinski (maker of family-centred horror A Quiet Place and husband of Emily Blunt) and starring Cool Dad Ryan Reynolds (from every fun movie ever), If is a cutely conceived, enchanting story about childhood imaginary friends and the sadness they feel whenwe grow up.
Nicely acted, gorgeous to look at and unashamedly pure of heart, it’s a pity If didn’t remotely impress my 7-year-old nephew, at whom the film is ostensibly aimed. But as an adult prone to nostalgia, I found plenty to appreciate.
Krasinski plays father to 12-year-old Bea (Cailey Fleming), who moves to stay in her grandma’s New York home while her dad goes into hospital for a heart operation.
Having lost her mother to cancer at an early age, Bea has long since put up barriers around her own heart, until the day she happens upon an upstairs apartment inhabited by the doleful Calvin (Reynolds) and a couple of strange, animated characters. Upon learning that Calvin’s job is to help these former imaginary friends (IFs) to find new children to comfort, Bea teams up to help.
If’s depiction of childhood is wholesome and well-meaning, full of hands-on imaginary play and not a screen or device in sight – no doubt an instant five-star review for many parents. It espouses important lessons about life’s occasional hardships, and the talky story keeps us guessing: Who’s who? Why? When did they? giving away few clues (though the costumes provide something of a hint).
For a PG-rated movie so sweetly old-fashioned, the themes will probably go over the head of smaller viewers. The hybrid live-action-cartoon (reminiscent of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) is cute and the performers are solid, but Krasinski’s script doesn’t have the sass, wit or kaboom of many of the wholly-animated flicks our 21st-century children love.
A glorious score orchestrated by Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino (Up, Ratatouille) may tug at grown-up heartstrings (I admit I cried twice), and we’re the ones who will get the underlying message of dashed hopes and abandoned dreams. But the littlies in our lives may need to experience a bit more loss of imagination before If properly resonates with them.
