When she was a little girl, Bea (Audrey Hoffman) had two loving parents who enjoyed her bursts of creativity and imagination. And though the little girl did not understand why (at the time), her mother (Catharine Daddario) was always asking her to tell a story. Unfortunately, that all came to an end when Bea’s Mom went to the hospital for surgery, and did not come home again …
Now, some years later, an older, wiser, and more cynical Bea (Cailey Fleming) is coming back to that apartment she left behind, to visit her grandmother while her dad (John Krasinski) has to go to the hospital for open heart surgery. It’s dangerous stuff, and she’s worried sick, but when the worries arrive so does something else—an opportunity to distract herself.
First, there is only a flitting shape, a bee in a ballerina costume called Blossom (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Then, there is a massive purple fuzzy monster called Blue (Steve Carell). They each seem to fall into a kind of friendship orbit around grouchy man Cal (Ryan Reynolds). Not many can see these two. They were imaginary friends to kids who grew up and no longer need them. Cal has the belief that they might be able to find new homes and kids for these discarded IFs, but he has not yet proven the idea by finding even one.
Bea, however, has met a kid in dire need of a friend. Benjamin (Alan Kim) is in her dad’s hospital, an accident prone kid who somehow managed to break his leg and his arm (two different incidents). He’s a sweet and friendly kid, but lonely—especially since his room’s television is broken. If Bea can set this little fellow up with the right IF, he might have a better time of things. And she might have accomplished something. However, it’s a trickier proposition than she expects … perhaps she will have more luck helping the IFs reunite (albeit briefly) with their original kids? Writer/director/actor/producer John Krasinski helms a celebration of imagination in the family film dramedy, IF (2024).
Family films that appeal to all ages of a family are hard to pull off. Disney’s got the formula down, of course, but there’s something a little too cold, calculated, and mercenary about many of their efforts for my preference. Illumination has done some good work (and some less so) over the years. Of course, both of those studios specialize in animated family features. Each has its live action variations, but there seems to be a large hole in the entertainment industry for those sorts of pictures that appeal to the demographic. I mean, how many G-rated flicks are released into he world these days? Few to none, really. And even this flick, which is endearing and ennobling and honestly sweet got slapped with a PG. Parents, guard your kids from uplifting celebrations of the human spirit? From people learning that armor composed of cynicism is akin to putting on blinders to the important things around you? From a picture that says fear is crippling and sometimes best faced in good company?
I don’t understand the ratings system. Not that I ever really did.
Anyway, on my seven-year-old daughter’s penultimate day of first grade, she and I went to see a matinee of this one and had a dandy old time together. We laughed, we wondered, we dreaded, we sobbed. It hooked us but good in that way that family films really ought to hook people, and it paid off all the setups it made.
The picture is a live action event with touches of animation thrown in. Most often, this is used for the otherworldly creatures and characters Bea encounters. But there is also a retirement home for the castoff IFs waiting to fade from existence altogether. There’s also a mystery at play as to how Bea can see all this stuff in the first place, but that’s never announced and it’s solved before we realize that it was written into the piece from the start.
It’s fun to see Ryan Reynolds in a kind of Deadpool Lite version—this one being much more kid friendly, mostly—and he brings all the heartbreak, charm, and cynicism we’d hope to see from such a character. A terrific foil for the protagonist.
Cailey Fleming also knows how to bring the teenage angst (though the character is still a middle grader) but there’s a kindness and vulnerability to her performance as well, which wins us over. We want to see her fears go unvindicated just like we want to see her efforts to find new kids for old IFs succeed, if only to prove that not all can be gloom and doom in our world.
Louis Gossett, Jr. is a treat as a dog in a trench coat and hat, the heart of the picture. He’s grizzled, seen plenty, but he’s nevertheless still retains an optimistic view on the world.
And Fiona Shaw is a winner as the befuddled and often overwhelmed grandmother … who once dreamed of being a dancer.
It’s interesting to see Krasinski’s range here. Coming off of two successful and relentless horror films like A Quiet Place (2018) and A Quiet Place 2 (2020), it would have been unsurprising to see him slotted into a horror niche forever. But he’s broken out of that and done so with a vengeance. There are moments of dread and doubt here, but this is about as far from a horror film as you can get. The fantasy might dabble with the dark but never really indulges, wallows in, or wades too deeply into the shadows. There is a nostalgia factor that feels an awful lot like Spielberg at his most “Gee whiz!” but balanced with honest gravitas and emotion.
The script does a fine job balancing the mundane and the fantastic, giving us a protagonist who is firmly rooted in two different worlds due to no fault of her own. The execution builds on the screenplay’s balance, giving us memorable shots (thanks in no small part to cinematographer Janusz Kaminski’s solid ability to shoot around effects) and terrific performances.
IF is a charming movie. It’s not always upbeat, but it nevertheless paints a sweet picture of humanity at its best … even though that means that most of us will ultimately abandon the most important things in our lives as we grow up. Be that as it may, those important beings remain there for us, waiting for a moment of nostalgia to light them up and stoke their purpose for being. My daughter and I both got teary eyed at dramatically appropriate moments (and for entirely different reasons), but we left the theater pretty energized and smiling ear to ear. I, for one, am eagerly looking forward to seeing where Krasinski goes next.
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If is currently playing in theaters. It is available for pre-order in DVD, Blu-ray, 4K/Digital, and VOD editions.
Next week’s Movie Monday feature will take a look at a very different approach to similar material. The fusion of the animated and real world takes a much darker turn in Stopmotion (2023). It is currently playing on the Shudder streaming service and VOD. It is also available for pre-order in DVD and Blu-ray editions.
Writing for “Remembering What Matters: If (2024)” is copyright © 2024 by Daniel R. Robichaud.
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