IF

IF
Starring Cailey Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, Steve Carell, John Krasinski
Directed by John Krasinski

The story centers around a group of imaginary friends who were once beloved by their children, but once they got older they forgot about their imaginary friends, leaving them to live in a retirement home of sorts before they're taken in by another child and the process starts all over again. It's main imaginary friend is named Bloo. There's an imaginary friend that's big and purple. You might be thinking this is "IF," and you're right...sorta. It's also "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends," a much better thought-out show that's essentially the same exact thing as this. While it might be billed as something original, it's anything but - yet it still manages to craft some magic of its own.

Bea (Cailey Fleming) grew up with an imagination and a loving family, and then her mother passed away from cancer, and now her father (John Krasinski) is undergoing some sort of heart surgery, and she's sent to stay with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw) in her childhood apartment. Bea has shut herself off from imagination and anything fun, but one night she sees a mysterious thing and finds it to be an imaginary friend named Blossom (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), who's living in an apartment upstairs with Cal (Ryan Reynolds) and a big purple imaginary friend named Blue (Steve Carell). Cal is trying to find new homes for the imaginary friends that have been forgotten by their child owners, and Bea immediately takes up the cause in order to do something important, and, more importantly, take her mind off the real-life fears she's facing.

"IF" has its heart in the right place, but the storyline is incredibly thinly written and doesn't make a lot of sense. It's like John Krasinski wanted to make a film not for children, but for parents of children, who've given up on their imagination and hopes to find it again. It's a bit heavy for children to get, and its meandering story is rather dull for adults to follow, because it ebbs and flows in nonsensical ways. The rules of the film aren't fully established: do the IFs disappear, or do they just go into retirement? Are they trying to find new children, or is the purpose to bring imagination back to their now-adult children? Is it a tale of never letting go of your past, or facing the future with the knowledge of what you once lived through? Do the IFs stay with their now-adult owners? There's so many questions and so many paths this film tries to take, and ultimately it seems like it wants to tug on different strings of your heart to make you feel some sort of way - but in the end you just feel bored.

It's unfortunate because Krasinski has already proven himself a more-than-capable screenwriter and director, having done the first two "A Quiet Place" films, but here he just seemed to want to do something different, and I do applaud his vigor - he was really excited about it, and his heart was in the right place, but in the end it was just a disappointing endeavor. Apart from the obvious "Foster's" connections, the opening sequence is essentially a live-action remake of Pixar's "Up" that's so formulaic it's insulting.

That's not to say the whole film is a downer. The cinematography is fabulous. The film is shot with heightened colors that gives a sense of whimsical wonder, and the CGI flows into the practical in wonderful ways. Visually, it's a stunner, and will invoke the emotion the writing fails to deliver on.

The human actors are mostly excellent, especially young Cailey Fleming as the lead role. Most horror fans will know her as young Judith Grimes in the last few seasons of "The Walking Dead," and here she shines as the young Bea, a girl who has undergone more pain than people twice her age, and she's allowed it to make her feel more adult than child. Yet she's able to see the IFs for some reason that's not explained, but Fleming makes it more than plausible and believable, and she's even given a few moments to really showcase her young acting talent. Ryan Reynolds sleepwalks through his performance, letting most of his effortless charm come on screen but is often overshadowed by Fleming. Fiona Shaw is the standout as Bea's grandmother, and Krasinski is fun and aloof as Bea's forever-young father.

The vocal talent is also impeccable, especially Steve Carell as Blue and Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Blossom, but there's a huge A-list cast that lend their voices as well: Louis Gossett Jr. (in one of his final roles), Awkwafina (who's getting a name for herself in animated films, such as "Kung Fu Panda 4" and "The Bad Guys"), Sam Rockwell, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Emily Blunt, Bradley Cooper, Bill Heder, Richard Jenkins, Keegan-Michael Key, Blake Lively and more.

Looking to recapture the magic of imagination, "IF" delivers in its visuals but fails in its razor-thin storytelling, but gives hope for young Cailey Fleming's budding acting career.

The Score: C+