IF - A bit Heavier than Expected Fantasy Family Movie with Some Lovely Heart Warming and Emotional Moments

After seeing its trailer few weeks ago, I was interested in seeing this movie as it looked really fun. So when it was available, my wife and I went to see it during the weekend in the theater not far from our home. It was not that easy as surprisingly not that many cinemas showing the movie in Indonesia. OK, why don't I just get to it then.

Brief Story Line

Bea (Cailey Fleming - The Walking Dead TV series etc) was a young girl whose father (John Krasinski - Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan TV series, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi etc) was hospitalized and preparing for surgery. While waiting for the operation, Bea was staying in the house of her grandmother (Fiona Shaw -  Enola Holmes etc). During her stay there, Bea met with a neighbor named Cal (Ryan Reynolds - Free Guy, LIFE etc). It should be a normal encounter except that Cal apparently was friends with Imaginary Friend (shortened IF) and Bea could somehow see these IFs.

She would later befriended some of the IFs like the kind hearted big purple furry monster Blue (voiced by Steve Carell - Despicable Me 3, Get Smart etc), Blossom (Phoebe Waller-Bridge - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Café TV series etc), Lewis the big teddy bear (Louis Gossett Jr. - An Officer and a Gentleman, Watchmen etc) and several others. Bea also decided to help Cal finding new homes for the IFs.

So how would the story conclude? You could find out in this movie.

End of Brief Story Line

Well that was a bit unexpected. The trailer to this movie seemed to suggest a light and hilarious movie especially with the various weird looking imaginary friends. Turned out though it was heavier as there was a deeper story shown here, particularly about friendship and being mature for young kids. But most surprisingly for me was the very emotional scenes that were beautifully done and left a deep impression to me and my wife.

Don't get me wrong though, it did not make this movie to be a really heavy drama cause there were still plenty of light moments especially involving those IFs. Blue was definitely our favorite with his innocence and behavior while the rest even though only shown briefly were still quite memorable. And they were voiced by well known names that included Awkwafina (The Little Mermaid live version etc) as Pop the bubble, Emily Blunt (The Fall Guy etc) as Uni the unicorn, George Clooney (Ticket to Paradise etc) as spaceman, Matt Damon (Ford v Ferrari  etc) as Sunny the flower and many others. It was amazing how they were all willing to provide voices here. Perhaps they had some kind of IF in their childhood years? Btw, the special effects on the IFs were fascinating too as they looked quite real,

The story was lovely and showed the wonderful imagination of John Krasinski who also directed this movie in addition to writing. However, the topic of imaginary friend might not be a popular thing in Indonesia which probably contributed to the movie not having that many audience here. And parents who brought their young children might find it a more challenging topic to explain to them as well. After all, slapstick comedies involving monsters would probably be more appealing for kids, which was very little shown here. 

Aside from those great qualities, I also felt that Ryan Reynolds was perfect in this role. It was so easy for him to portray Cal and his interaction with the IFs was truly great. The young Cailey Fleming also had a wonderful chemistry with Reynolds and Krasinski (who was very believable as the loving and fun Dad to Bea). There were also some heart warming moments before the closing credits. After the closing credits that did not have any mid credit scene, my wife and I were surprised to saw the message of "In Loving Memory of Louis Gosset Jr." who sadly passed away in March 2024 before this movie was released. Before I forgot, I was also quite fond of the appearance of Alan Kim (Minari etc) who played as Benjamin. 

Overall this was a movie that was not exactly a kid's comedy type. It might be a bit heavier than the usual family fantasy film but it had great impact to our emotions. I know that critics were not that impressed with the movie as they felt it was not too grounded and had non coherent story telling. However, sometimes most people did not really care for those stuff and just want to enjoy a nice movie with our loved ones. And in this part, I felt the film was able to do so for us, which I think was the reason audience surveyed were more receptive. So if you are looking for a beautiful fantasy movie, then likely you would enjoy this like we did. But if you prefer the full comedy and lighter film for the younger kids, then it might not be too suitable. The choice is yours. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars