Internet Janitor
What if our imaginary friends when we were young were real, yet the turmoil of growing up made us forget them? I cannot say I had one growing up, but many people do, and there is nothing to be made fun of or mocked. In a world where the news is full of violence, Florida exists, and everyone is so busy and stressed IF I think it is the best movie for the times.
In IF, we meet young Bea (played by Cailey Fleming, who was young Rey in The Force Awakens), who lost her mother, and now her father is in the hospital for heart surgery. Living with her grandmother, she stumbles across a grumpy man named Cal (Ryan Reynolds) and a host of imaginary friends, like Blue (voiced by Steve Carell from The Office), whose children have forgotten them. It becomes her mission to find them new people.
Here, we meet people struggling and just need a friend. They had one when they were younger, yet, like it or not, this world forces you to grow up as much as possible. I think kids are so much better at times, not knowing what awaits them. How dark and cruel the world can be. Yet, IF, I think, will fill you with the hope that just possibly a little magic is real.
There is no villain. The world is not going to end. If you’re expecting a lot of fart jokes, Ryan Reynolds, in Deadpool mode, then you’re going to be disappointed. There are no explosions, no real evil characters here.
The acting is top notch and it is entertaining to see Reynolds not in his usual rapid fire joke mode and instead a tortured character. The animation is fantastic and blends in with the movie very well.
It’s just simple, and sometimes simple is good. Just because we get older does not mean that our imaginary friends need to go away. Perhaps we need them even more.