Welcome back stinkers! I have just recently watched John Krasinski’s new movie IF, and today I will give you my thoughts and feelings of the film. This might be one of my favorite movies of the year. I love this movie!
Non-Spoiler Review
Like I said, I really love this movie! It breaks my heart that this movie is getting a lot of poor reception. I get that all film is subjective, but I don’t understand what happened to some of those people. I thought this was a beautiful movie. This movie was able to drive a ton of emotion. It was just cool to see this movie unfold from a regular children’s movie to something making me cry out. And I am glad to say that I wasn’t the only one crying. This movie was really able to make me feel. I laughed, I cried, and I felt emotion. That’s also where the score comes in. I mean Michael Giacchino at its finest. He is definitely one of the best working composers today. The music just added to the emotion! It might’ve been a bit over played, but I don’t care! The music adds to the characters, adds to the emotion, adds to the story! It’s just one of those cases where the composer is able to tell a story, on top of the story Krasinski is telling. Now what added to my experience, was that I saw it with a group of friends, my best friends. When the theme of the movie starts to kick into overdrive, it made me appreciate my friends more, as well as life more. Luis had to be one of my favorite characters. When he has that talk with Bea, that was my breaking point, and I couldn’t stop crying until the end of the movie. Luis was that drive for the emotion, and the development of the film. I do have one tiny negative though. The movie does move slow. It’s just when the emotion kicks into action, I can forgive the pacing. I also have to say the plot twist at the end is a wee bit forgivable, but the movie did so great at striking that emotional chord, I just didn’t really care how predictable it was. I love this movie!
Bea and Her Dad
Now that my non-spoiler review is out of the way, this is where I like to talk about some spoilers. At this point I usually like to talk more in depth about some things, and further elaborate on my overall thoughts. Don’t forget, I am going to walk into some spoiler territory. You have been warned. So, Cailey Fleming plays the main protagonist of the movie. Now, I think Fleming did a great job in here. This is my first time seeing her in anything, and I think she is going to do some great things in the future. You know when it comes to kid actors, no one critiques the acting as you would do for adults, but she did a great job! I’m not just saying that to be nice, I legit think she did a great job. She was able to install some of the emotion, and her character was overall whimsical and fun. Now I also need to give props to John Krasinski. Krasinski plays her dad in here, and he’s a bit of the gateway into when the movie changes. The movie really goes from a lighthearted tale to an emotional journey. I thought his character was actually a lot of fun. He didn’t only try to make Bea feel better, he made me feel better. I love this movie!
During the latter half, it is then up in the air whether or not he’s going to make it through the surgery. Once the nurse was acting calm, and acting like he was going to be fine, that’s when I kind of backed off a bit. I really could’ve guessed that he was going to make it. But it’s ok that it was a bit predictable. Once the score started to play, and once the acting was kicking in, it makes up me being able to guess what’s going to happen. I almost forgot about what I was thinking was going to happen. That’s how great that emotion was. John Krasinski’s directing was able to install a lot of emotion, he was able to convey that very well. It was suspenseful for me; I was hoping for the best for Bea. She’s a character I felt bad for. I didn’t only feel for the story, I felt for the characters. I love this movie!
The Imaginary Friends
Now I really love the imaginary friends of the movie. People have been asking for more original IP, well here you go. You have a whole bunch of original characters rolled up in here. Now of course, more characters have more of a role than others. But I think each were an important step throughout the movie. They weren’t only there for Bea, but it felt like Bea was able to connect with them. That’s the true purpose of imaginary friends. The point where the movie broke me, started where Bea and Luis have that conversation. I then didn’t stop for the rest of the film. It’s when you’re older, you need your imaginary friends the most. That was amazing on its own, but it was even better that I had all of my best friends around me. They might not be imaginary, but they sure are real. As we see later near the end of the movie, we learn that Bea has created these imaginary friends, to help her with the pain. The scene that truly embodies this has to be when it’s up in the air whether or not Bea’s dad is going to make it. The moment that Bea absolutely needs her imaginary friends, we see all of them there for her. And when seeing this movie with my friends, the movie put into my head that they would be there for me to. I don’t know how true that actually is, but I would at least hope they would be there when I need them the most. That whole theme absolutely broke me. I love that part of the movie. I love this movie!
The Imaginary Friends Matchmaking Program
So, a big part of the film was the matchmaking entitative, that tries to pair these imaginary friends with a new kid. This felt like a bit of a forefront of the actual plot of the film. It’s crazy to me because this is what they used in marketing, but it turns into something else. But at the same time the matchmaking program delivers some of the best emotion of the film. It then made me very happy to see them tie these imaginary friends with the people that we see throughout the film. That was a great way to do it, because they set up those characters, most of them very small, and they were able to pay them off. For characters that I didn’t really care about, made me happy by the end. Out of that whole montage at the end of the movie, my favorite had to be with Keith. Krasinski was able to set a lot of the at the beginning, sending Bea off on her own so Bea is able to tell a story again. I was definitely the happiest when they were able to tie Kieth in with the dad.
Blue
Now I got to talk about the two main Ifs, Blue and Blossom. Blue was definitely the best If. I even had to go back and get the Blue popcorn bucket. The journey that Blue has to go through was the most entertaining to watch. It was ultimately a roller coaster of emotions. He had to push through his nervousness, and at the end he was able to help another person. When Blue was able to face his fears, he didn’t only help someone else, he helped himself. It’s something that kids are able to watch and teach them an important lesson. Not only kids, but it also taught me a lesson, there’s even adults that will learn from Blue. I also really want a croissant now. I don’t really know why.
Blossom
Another If I want to talk about is Blossom. She’s probably the main example of what I was talking about earlier. That’s when Bea gets that realization that Blossom is the imaginary friends of Bea’s grandma. When Bea tries to reunite the two, that was definitely a beautiful part of the film. That’s when the music kicks in once again. Michael Giacchino might just be my favorite composer. Again, he’s able to tell a story within the story being told. The score again, just adds to the emotion. I thought that it was great that the imaginary friends tie into the characters we know. Again, that dance was shot beautifully, and that’s when Blossom comes in, and we feel happy. Like I said, this movie allowed me to feel emotion. This movie was a roller coaster of emotions.
Luis
So, the last main If I wanted to talk about was Luis. I love love LOVE Luis. For such a minor character, he was such a leading man. He was the guy that got our main characters, to where they are now. Cal said that he’s been doing this for 93 years. So, for a long time he has been trying to help these imaginary friends out. I do think we could’ve gotten a lot more of him. Like one of the first things, me and my friends talked about was Luis. For me it felt like his character was almost forgotten. Here’s how I left it off in my head. And I think that if they included this, that would’ve been the point to where I was bawling my eyes out. At the end of the movie, we get the montage with all of the Ifs reuniting with their previous kids (who are now adults). Luis is an old guy, so that means his kid would definitely be old too. I think we could’ve left off better with him if they included one more shot, where he’s just watching all the Ifs get what they have wanted for a long time. He then sits on a bench or something and looks at a picture of his old kid and says to himself that he misses him or something. Or he just reminisces over the past. I think that could’ve been the most emotional part of the film. But hey, this movie is still amazing in so many different ways.
Calvin
Now the last character I wanted to talk about was Ryan Reynolds’ Cal. Now Reynolds is as whimsical and as charming as he’ll ever be. His character was great in here! He was the main character that helped Bea cope with her worries. Now if y’all are reading this and have already seen the movie, you’re probably waiting for me to talk about that twist at the end. Now, I thought it might’ve been a wee bit predictable. But I don’t care. The emotion distracted me enough, that when it was revealed that he was Bea’s imaginary friend the whole time, I didn’t even realize it. In fact, it just added to the emotion for me. The character of Calvin allowed me to feel. He made me happy; he made me laugh; he made me cry. That shot when Bea goes back up to find all of the imaginary friends, was another truly beautiful shot. I loved it so much, that I still can’t get it out of my head. Calvin really showed what Luis said, it’s when you’re older that you need your imaginary friends the most. Bea has been denying the fact that she’s a kid, but not denying the fact that she needed someone to be there for her. Ryan Reynolds truly delivered in here, making me love him even more. What’s great about Reynolds is that he’s the same type of person in his movies, he’s always the funny highlight, but he’s able to take his humor, and apply it to what’s appropriate. Calvin and Deadpool are both pretty funny characters. But you can’t have a Deadpool in an imaginary friends movie of course.
Review Recap
I absolutely love this movie, it’s literally my favorite movie of the year so far. I absolutely loved seeing this with my friends, making it one of my favorite theater experiences to date. We go to the movies to feel emotion, and this movie was an emotional roller coaster. It made me laugh, it made me happy, and it made me cry. All of the characters delivered on a lot of emotion, and I loved it. I enjoyed how they were able to take these imaginary friends and tie them with the minor characters we met along the way.
That’s going to do it for my review on If! Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to catch up on another one of my movie reviews. I absolutely loved watching this, I had fun watching the movie, and I had fun writing this. Make sure you check out The Big Stinker Blog for more coverage on movies, TV, and gaming. It’s also here where you can find my movie, show, and game reviews and breakdowns. So, until next time stinkers! Bye bye.