John Krasinski has had an eventful few years with the popularity of his horror franchise A Quiet Place getting critical and audience acclaim.  He was a breath of fresh air during the Covid-19 pandemic with his YouTube videos and now he’s got a new film he wrote and directed called IF (Imaginary Friend). He is showing with this movie that he cares about kids and people in general and I think a lot of families are going to relate to it.

Bea (Cailey Fleming) has to move back in with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw) when her father has to go into the hospital for an experimental surgery. While back in the place she spent summers as a youth, now twelve years old, she is a little different from that little girl, but she notices she has an ability she didn’t realize she had. She can see creatures creeping around corners and in dark spaces. They convince her to visit their friend Cal (Ryan Reynolds) He explains what she has been seeing and what it means going forward. It gives her a whole new outlook on her youth.

There is an Imaginary story, no pun intended, that is geared specifically for the kid in all of us. I for one had a twin brother David whom I spent a lot of my younger years with growing up and we had a lot of fun watching television shows, and movies, reading comics, and playing with our toys. Despite the miserable existence we had in other areas of our lives he was a blessing in disguise for me as a shy quiet kid. I’m not trying to say he was a replacement for an Imaginary Friend, but in a way, a sibling can fill that void. Most kids don’t have siblings their age that they can relate to like I had.

With Krasinski being such a big star he was able to enlist a lot of his favorite friends to come have fun with him in this film. The first, but not least is Steve Carell as Blue, a big cuddly purple IF, who is looking for a new connection with another child so he has a purpose. Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays Blossom, an old-fashioned IF, and other big-name celebrities who play If’s are Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, Louis Gossett Jr. RIP, Sam Rockwell. Awkwafina,  Sébastien Maniscalco, and Richard Jenkins. They were all fantastic in the film and all had specific roles that fit nicely into the narrative of this family film.     

There was another Imaginary Friend that came out earlier this year that had a horror-centric theme. I feel that was a mistake. This movie had a more family-oriented feel to it. Krasinski wants to give kids and their parents something to see that is very enjoyable for everyone. That is hard these days except for animated films that is. There isn’t much in between adult-centric movies and kid films. This has a great vibe for the whole family. I was glad to see this these days. Krasinski wanted to give people a happier movie-going experience.  

With the mix of Animation and live-action characters, this film has a nice mix of these styles. All the animated characters looked pretty cool from the simpler one to the more animated ones. Blossom and Blue had quite a bit of the scenes, the others played a part in the story as well. With other movies mixing animation and live-action characters you can tell there is a bit of a wonky look to the film. I didn’t think that these two things couldn’t exist in the same place and time. Even though they were If’s. It was seamless how they both looked so good together. Krasinski’s experience with CGI alien monsters probably helped him quite a bit with this movie and story.

IF is a pleasant surprise to me. I went in not giving it too much credit despite the massive cast and Krasinski combined with Reynold’s talents. They all worked fantastically together. This is going to be a sweet family-centric movie that everyone should be able to get behind. There is a nostalgia factor as well as a story element that shows a loving spirit.  The seamless animation and live-action was very impressive. I wasn’t taken out of the film at all, unlike other movies that mix live-action and animation. The voice-over work was well done as well. With the summer coming this should be a nice film for parents to take the kids to and not have to worry about vulgar language or toilet humor. That’s a nice turn from so many other comedies these days.

3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen