Ryan Reynolds has been on fire lately. Of course there is the amazing release of Deadpool and Wolverine that has everyone flipping out, but just a few months before releasing that super-charged, action packed film, Reynolds flexed his acting chops in a sweet movie called “IF”. IF simply stands for Imaginary Friends, but the implications are so much more than that because the word “IF” tends to imply that anything can be possible.
Although the trailer showed the film to be a humorous romp about imaginary friends, in reality the film is SO much more than that. John Krasinski also stars in and helped produce this film and the concept centers more around helping children deal with grief, and how that grief can follow them into adulthood. Through a short montage in the beginning we are able to see a beautiful relationship between a girl and her parents, although we can sense that tragedy is about to strike. Sure enough the mother passes away and although it is not fully explained the shots tend to lean towards cancer. Years go by and the little girl grows up to the age of 12 but grief has aged her much more than that. This time it is her father who is in the hospital needing heart surgery, and her ptsd and trauma have her needing to process this situation as a “grown-up”; even though she is very much still a child. She meets her eccentric “neighbor” who apparently can see IF’s, and they embark on a mission to find child matches for all of these misplaced IFs whose original children have forgotten them. More as a distraction for her than anything else so that she won’t have to focus on how worried and scared she is for her father. The creatures are clever and funny and the cinematography is very engaging and whimsical.
Even though I found it fairly easy to guess the twist ending, most younger viewers will not. There are lots of hints and subtext dropped throughout the movie to give you clues as to what is really happening, and for any of us who have seen “Sixth Sense”, we are forever on the lookout for anything that is not as it appears to be! But my children were mainly surprised at the ending. After her fathers surgery (yes thankfully he lives and is fine!), the little girl goes to head back to her home, and finally realizes that her neighbor, played by Ryan Reynolds, is actually her childhood IF! A loving clown that she cherished when she was younger but that got forgotten and washed away when her mom died and she had to “grow up”.
Perhaps even more endearing is the sub-plot where they realize that all of these misplaced IFs don’t need new children, they need to be remembered by their original owners! And the adults need to remember them too. So there are a lot of sweet reunions between jaded and sad adults and their childhood IFs, a symbol of reminding all of us that the child inside never fully goes away, but needs to be cherished as a precious piece of ourselves even as we grow up.
It’s a heart-warming and clever film even if it isn’t the blockbuster hit that Deadpool and Wolverine is, Kransinski and Reynolds make a wonderful team! It is worth a watch and has plenty of “Guest” celebrity voices and appearances. Look out for the cameo by Brad Pitt–I think that one was our favorite!
