An interesting premise marred by a lacklustre execution
I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for John Krasinski. I’m not a die-hard fan of The Office or Jack Ryan, but I’ve seen most of both of those shows and enjoyed them. A Quiet Place and its sequel are extremely effective. I also saw him in person once and he was very tall and handsome.
I’ve generally enjoyed his projects post-Office. He’s mostly pivoted away from comedy—as if he knew that his once-distinctive comedy stylings as Jim Halpert had become so ubiquitous that they’d circled around to become a little grating and knew that he’d have to do something different to retain relevance.
When he announced that he was doing a family comedy film that will star the voice of Steve Carell, I wasn’t sure how to feel. Is it a bit of a backwards step? When I see that Ryan Reynolds is also starring, I get even more unsure. Reynolds has the tendency make or break a movie recently—it all depends on how much Deadpool he’s doing at any given minute of the day.
Despite all this, I’m rooting for the movie going into it. I really am. Krasinski has proven to be a surprisingly competent director, and I want his movies to be good.
Imaginary
After beginning with a montage doing its best imitation of Up, the movie chugs through a set-up that amounts to this: Years after her mother’s death, 12-year-old Bea (Cailey Fleming) moves in with her grandmother (Fiona Shaw) while her father (Krasinski) is in hospital prepping for surgery. In her grandmother’s apartment building, she stumbles onto Calvin (Ryan Reynolds), a guy whose job is to find homes for displaced imaginary friends, such as Blue (Steve Carell) and Blossom (Phoebe Waller-Bridge).
You know who’s the best? Fiona Shaw. I might be a little biased because she’s Irish, but she’s been having a killer run recently with Andor and True Detective: Night Country. She also has the best scene in IF. Thing is, it shouldn’t have been the best scene in IF because—and I say this with the utmost respect for the genre and Fiona Shaw—IF is supposed to be a family comedy film.
Shaw’s earnest and wistful monologue about her childhood as a dancer nearly brought me to tears, but afterwards I couldn’t help but think about how bored a kid would’ve been watching it. This is IF’s big problem—for all the zany CGI characters you see on the poster, this is not a fun a movie.
Playtime’s Over
Look, there’s nothing wrong with a family comedy film dealing with ‘serious’ emotions or real issues—Pixar have historically pulled this off to great effect—but this always works best when sneaked into an otherwise charming and fun story.
IF is a drag. Krasinski is the sole writer, and for as comedic as he has been in the past, I’m sad to report that he’s just not that great at writing comedy. Ryan Reynolds is also half asleep here. He’s doing his witty, dry, sarcasm thing every now and then, but honestly, the script doesn’t give him much to do at all. He seems bored, and I can’t blame him. I was, too.
It wasn’t all bad. I already mentioned Fiona Shaw, but young Cailey Fleming does a way better job than I could’ve anticipated in a few scenes where she has to deal with some very tough emotions. She’s chirpy and sweet and breezily carries the bulk of the film’s burden.
Steve Carell as Blue is a non-character. He’s a big gloopy guy with a silly voice, but he’s not put to any great dramatic or comedic effect. Really young kids might like looking at him on a screen. That’s about all I can say. Krasinski is just doing Jim Halpert here, but at least his corny sense of humour works in a ‘I’m-just-tyring-to-make-my-kid-laugh’ kind of way. Phoebe Waller-Bridge does a voice, too. You’ll think ‘Oh, that’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge!’ when you hear her speak then never consider her character in a meaningful way again.
Outclassed
I also can’t help but feel dissatisfied by the rules of this world of imaginary friends. You can have a read that none of this is really happening—that it’s all a way for Bea to escape from a harsh reality—but if you want to earnestly engage with the film, you’re just going to be confused.
Reuniting imaginary friends with their old kids seems to be the goal, but even when this is achieved at various points, nothing changes—the imaginary friend is just back again in the next scene and the process begins again. I wanted these scenes to mean something, but they never did because there was no grander purpose behind anything.
I wanted rules—not to take the magic away but to give the magic stakes. Repeatedly I was wondering what the point of anything was. Even kids’ movies need narrative tension to retain interest.
IF just spins its wheels. There’s very little catharsis to be had because Bea isn’t much of a character. Everything just feels very light. Not in an uplifting way. More in an empty way. Whether he intended to or not, with IF Krasinski got into the ring with the family cinema greats, like Paul King (Paddington, Wonka) and Chris Columbus (Harry Potter, Home Alone), but really, there's no competition.
***
Thanks for reading my review. If you liked it, consider buying me a cup of coffee at https://ko-fi.com/kieranobrien
Comments