90. IF

 

90 posts already? I've done better than I thought...

I apologise for the spam, but I need to keep this fresh while the motivation remains with me. Twas only last night I went off to the cinema to see IF, and I'll be honest I still have mixed emotions about it. 

IF is the latest Ryan Reynolds movie and this one comes from the mind of John Krasinski.

It very much reminds me of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and basically explores the idea of reuniting imaginary friends, or IFs, with their kids in order to stop them fading into non-existence. This is all while simultaneously reuniting a young girl who has been forced to grow up too quickly through bereavement, with her childhood.

This film could easily inspire the inner child in everyone to come out, however I felt it was lacking in terms of the magic department. I think it was giving me very much the same vibe as Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Yes it was cool, yes it was adorable and family orientated and inspiring, but at the same time it came across a little dull, a little slow. This is why I am conflicted, I wanted so badly to laugh and enjoy this film and have it be my fun feelgood movie of the summer, but instead it brought me to tears at moments and I barely cracked a smile. It had an overly serious vibe for a movie trying to show the light hearted side of things following grief. 

I am being overly careful here perhaps due to the fact I don't want to give spoilers, but I saw the twist coming a mile ahead. All I will say is take careful note at times other people view Bea with the IFs, remember they can't see the IFs, take a mental note at who you can see in the frame and who was meant to be there.

Back to the vibe though, I really do feel like the movie was tinged with sadness. The pace was slow too, we spent an awful lot of time setting up Bea's bereavement story to the point I didn't realise it was spent over the course of a single summer. It seems as though Bea only comes to visit her Grandma in New York when one of her parents are admitted to hospital which was heartbreaking in itself. 

Imaginary friends are meant to be a fun affair, anything can happen, but even this aspect was sad. They were neglected, forgotten, and housed in a retirement home all bitter and withered. Only Blue kept his childlike wonder and embodied the correct fun filled attitude expected from an IF, the rest all seemed very adult and angry. Of course I understand why, and this aspect can be blamed on the fact they are a part of the kid who made them and that childlike wonder died hence they are as adult and bitter as their makers, but this drove home the tone of the film. Sad. 

I feel Blue was only as joyful and successful in this aspect thanks to Steve Carell. He does joyful voice overs so well, and that attitude really carried across. Aside from that, this film had a star studded cast considering each random IF barely had any screen time. Don't forget Keith who was played by Brad Pitt, ya know, Keith the invisible IF everyone falls over...

Ryan Reynolds is as talented as always in this movie. He was less sarcastic then his usual type cast however and he came across quite withdrawn. I know this was intentional and you will get why when the twist is revealed, but he was very adult in what was effectively a child's world, and it was a reluctant adult which further mirrored the whole point of the movie. Childlike wonder is a beautiful and highly overlooked thing. It is the key to happiness and this film really drives that point home, but I feel like there was still something missing. We had a string of events which it was plain to see how they linked together, but the imagination aspect seemed wasted here. She transformed the retirement home into everyone's happy places which was brilliant and an easy break from the dramatic and sad scenes, but in a movie where anything was possible, where were the ultimate possibilities?!

Krasinski as always was the right tone of comedic and serious. Fiona Shaw is a pleasure and it is so nice to see her on the big screen. As for the rest of the cast, to name a few; Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Awkwafina, Blake Lively, Louis Gossett Jr, Vince Vaughn, Sam Rockwell, Bradley Cooper, George Clooney, and my god does the list go on in terms of famous faces. They were all superb.

But shout out to Cailey Fleming and Alan S. Kim for their acting in this movie. Bea was so real in this film, so stern and yet you can see she was a child playing at being an adult even when she accepted being a kid. And Benjamin, he was our adorable comedic relief. 

I wanted so badly to see more of the IFs in this film. I wanted them to pop up and be fun and reckless and it display a world of opportunity, but that didn't happen and I am disappointed. Don't get me wrong, for what it was, the movie was good. But I just can't express what I felt it was lacking, there was no joy in this film, there was just the overwhelming shadow of growing up and I don't like that. Not all aspects of growing up are bad, most of them yes, but not all. 

Overall then, I'm giving IF a 5/10. 

It isn't Ryan Reynolds' best movie, but also not his worst. As I said, the quality of this film was great, the quantity a little off as it was long considering the subject matter, but the subject matter was skewed and a fun film was a little less fun. Would I watch it again? Honestly? Probably not. If it was on I'd use it as background noise, but I'm not going to go out of my way to watch it again.

What do you think? Leave a comment on my socials!