It takes a lot of friends to make something like “IF.” Or much of Hollywood owes John Krasinski plenty.
That’s what you conclude as, one by one, familiar voices check in as “imaginary friends” in the new family film.
Krasinski, who wrote and directed the fantasy, also stars as a father who’s going into the hospital for some vague reason. His daughter Bea (Cailey Fleming) is worried and, in the process of sorting things out, becomes acquainted with a big furry blob known as Blue (even though he’s clearly purple). Bob (who’s voiced by Steve Carell – see the connection?) explains that there are a lot of imaginary friends who no longer have contact with their “owners.” One by one, Krasinski introduces them – and their celebrity voices. George Clooney, Louis Gossett Jr., Phoebe Waller-Bridge and plenty of others turn up as everything from a glass of ice water (Bradley Cooper) to a unicorn (Emily Blunt). Ryan Reynolds checks in in a more human form as a matchmaker of sorts trying to pair human with imaginary friend. He’s a cranky sort (with stylin’ pants) who wanders a Wonka-like world under Coney Island.
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Cailey Fleming as Bea and Ryan Reynolds as Cal star in “IF.”
As Bea figures out what’s afoot, she seems to roam the streets of New York while her dad lingers in the hospital and her grandmother (Fiona Shaw) watches television. She befriends a kid at the hospital too and – spoiler alert – tries to hook him up with an IF.
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Bruce Miller is editor of the Sioux City Journal.
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