There’s a fine line between the whimsical dream logic of Roald Dahl and irritating, incoherent nonsense. Director John Krasinski’s new kids film IF is nowhere near that line. Despite the best efforts of the extremely talented child actor Cailey Fleming, IF makes no sense, narratively, emotionally, or visually. The only fun to be had is when the thing hits its 104-minute runtime, and you can finally get up and flee.

The story, such as it is, features Bea (Fleming), a 12-year-old whose mother has died and whose father (Krasinski) is undergoing heart surgery. While she waits for her dad in New York, Bea discovers a bunch of imaginary friends—IFs—living in an upstairs apartment. The IFs have been forgotten by the children who created them, and Bea, along with the IF’s adult friend Cal (Ryan Reynolds), sets out to find new children with whom the imaginary creatures can partner. Soon enough, she learns heartfelt lessons about . . . the power of the imagination? How you should never grow up? The limits of CGI and how you should really spring for puppets and practical effects if you’re making cute kids movies?

 

The moral is unclear. Worse, there are so many characters—human and imaginary—that none of them, not even Bea, has much depth or resonance. The movie leaps from unmotivated “funny” set piece to unmotivated catharsis and back, desperately hoping that if you fling enough laughs and tears at the screen, you’ll end up with a movie.

That hope is, in this instance, misplaced. Kids can be forgiving, and so can adults, and I can’t rule out the possibility that someone, somewhere, of some age, will enjoy this. But I think I’m likely to be in the majority when I say that IF is an imaginary friend that’s best left unseen.

 

 

Boluwatife Adesina
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Boluwatife Adesina is a media writer and the helmer of the Downtown Review page. He’s probably in a cinema near you.