Film Review: IF

 

Sexuality/Nudity Acceptable

Violence Acceptable

Vulgarity Acceptable

Anti-Catholic Philosophy Acceptable

After terrifying us with A Quiet Place, writer/director John Krasinski is jumping into the other end of the cinematic pool with the family-friendly IF.  And just like A Quiet Place, IF is a visually engaging and thematically rich film.

IF is the story of Bea (Cailey Fleming).  In the opening sweet and sad montage, we find that her mom passed away from cancer (Catharine Daddario).  And now at the age of 12, Bea has to move in with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw) because her father (John Krasinski) has now been hospitalized as well.  Though her father wants her to enjoy her childhood, the past has caused Bea to put away childish things.  However all of that changes when she runs into upstairs neighbor Cal (Ryan Reynolds), who is working with discarded imaginary friends (or IF's).  These are creatures that were close companions of children who have now been completely forgotton and so are either living in lonley retirment or are desperatly trying to find a new child to befriend.  Bea decides to help Cal and the IFs in their quest to find happiness once again.

Children's stories with premises like this are a dime-a-dozen.  The difference is in the themes and the execution.  Thematically, this movie is quite touching.  Children in today's society are in such a hurry to grow up.  And the culture surrounding them seems only too eager to rob them of their innocence.  Bea looks at adulthood as armor to shield herself from the pain of the past and present.  The sad part is that she is correct.  But the way that happens is that adults lose that innocent vulnerability and openness, that sense of wonder.  To paraphrase CS Lewis, the only way to guarantee that your heart will not break is to turn it into stone. This movie is about holding on to that sense of magic.

The direction is spot-on.  Krasinski is able to bring literal and emotional color to brighten his world.  He knows how to use the special effects properly, making them photo-realistic, but never losing their sense of other-worldliness.  The designs of the IFs are incredibly fun.  Blue (Steve Carrell) is a giant, hairy, purple monstor with enthusiastic innocence.  Blossom ( Phoebe Waller-Bridge) is black-and-white cartoon insect with old school British sensibilities.  My favorite might be Lewis (Louis Gosset Jr.) as the old Teddy Bear that brings wisdom, empathy, and sadness to the story.

Krasinski is directing this movie at children, so he makes sure to make the film as visually engaging as possible.  A marvelous sequence in the IF's retirment home was a joy to watch.  But, like some of the other great children's films like Up, the movie also works on a deep level with adults.  Those of us who have left adulthood now have the sad knowledge of what we've left behind.  Krasinski's movie shows us a way regain some of that wonder to help us be more childlike without being childish.

The performances are very good as well.  Fleming is good as Bea: precocious, but not so precoucious as to be off-putting.  Reynolds is both sarcastic and vulnerable.  He shows us how Cal's humor and cyncicsm are a way to cover up a deep, abiding sadness.  The voice-acting on the IF's is excellent, especially with Carell, Waller-Bridge, and Gossett Jr.  

I do wish the movie was a bit funnier.  For some reason, I couldn't quite connect with all of the humor.  It was like my experience with a lot Tina Fey-related projects: I get the joke and why its funny, it just doesn't make me laugh as much as it should.  That doesn't mean that the movie is unfunny.  But while pulling at the heart-strings is good, it might have been more effective if the jokes were punched up a bit.

Leaving IF, the scenes stayed with me and I still hum the final tune during the closing credits.  I think that is a testament to its strength in an age when so many movies are dispoable fluff.

IF has to power to make you feel like a child again, even if only for a moment.