Ryan Reynolds is my best friend.

If feels like a film that was never going to be particularly liked by film critics, who mostly tend to be joyless weenies. It’s a film whose review I started writing about a week ago and then got completely sidelined by work stress. So bear with me because I’m typing this out from memory and I really did enjoy this film. In another world this movie would have starred perpetual manchild Zachary Levi and it probably would have been terrible.

IF is a fantasy comedy drama by John Krasinski, and when I say “by John Krasinski” I mean by him. Krasinski is the writer, director, and plays the silly billy dad. Starring? I wouldn’t say so, he doesn’t have a lot of roles in the film. I’ll be honest with you folks, I have never reviewed a film with John Krasinski in it. That’s not much of an admission, but it is one and I’m making it right here. Cue two years from now when there’s like a dozen Krasinski films reviewed here and someone corrects me like I’m wrong right now.

The movie stars the adorable Cailey Fleming as Bea, daughter of John Krasinski and also granddaughter of Fiona Shaw. Bea’s family doesn’t get names in this movie, it’s not important. All you need to know is that like in any movie of this caliber, Bea’s mom is dead and her dad is in the hospital for surgery that may or may not kill him. Who knows? You’ll have to watch the movie to find out.

Anyway, Bea one day sees a living cartoon creature in her grandma’s apartment building. She discovers Cal, played by the equally adorable Ryan Reynolds, and learns that the world is inhabited by IFs. IF is short for imaginary friend, go figure, and they are real and children have them. At least until the children move on and the IFs disappear. But Bea, like Cal, can see the IFs for some reason, and decides to go on an adventure to pair the IFs with new children who need friends and don’t have them for some reason.

IF has a great cast. On the live action department you’ve got Bobby Moynihan and that’s pretty much everyone I haven’t mentioned. On the voice actor cast list there is Steve Carrell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Louis Gossett Jr, Emily Blunt, George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon, Bill Hader, Richard Jenkins, Keegan-Michael Key, honestly the list goes on and on and on. Awkwafina is here because she voices roles in 100% of Hollywood releases now, thanks to a contractual obligation after a stage hand ran over her foot during a film shooting in 2021.

I loved this movie and I will say it’s something you really have to turn your brain to 50% operations to enjoy. There’s a lot of implications you can dream up with the world this movie exists in as well as the existence of IFs and what it means that some kids have them and some kids don’t. But that’s best left on the cutting room floor of your imagination. The point is that Bea and Cal are going to find these imaginary friends a new home and all sorts of wacky hijinks are going to happen in the meantime.

IF is a well made film, and a real tearjerker at a few moments. It is at its heart a children’s movie where you have to accept certain things like how Bea can run all over Brooklyn without anyone noticing, least of all her grandma. I will admit that IF can be a little tonally all over the board, where we’re shifting from Bea helping out a silly bear to going back to talk about her dad’s surgery and how he might die. But there’s also a lot of heartwarming kindness that peppers throughout the movie.

I almost didn’t watch IF because it looked a little too silly. But I’m glad I did. It doesn’t shock me so many critics don’t like this movie, given few of them had childhoods or imagination.

Rating: A-