IF

Imaginary Friend is a movie likely to appeal to kids and some adults as well. I admit the movie has an interesting concept which could have been made a bit more interesting and happening than it turned out to be.

John Krasinski teamed up with his old pal Ryan to make this family friendly movie after A Quiet Place but the movie takes quite some time to take off and mashes up what could have been a more fun and action filled fantasy adventure rather than just an emotional rollercoaster.

Some of the IFs imaginary friends, although colorful and happy, could have been used a tad more and could have made this movie more adventurous and funnier than it turned out to be.

This was a visually stunning and whimsical movie. It had a star studded cast with Ryan Reynolds, John Krazinski and Steve Carell. In fact it could have done without a star playing the dad I thought, as this detracted from the emotional opening scene. The movie felt boring at times for the first two-thirds, despite the interesting concept of the story; I think it lacked suspenseful direction in the plot development. Ryan Reynolds had about three great funny moments, all of which are in the trailer, and it's a shame he wasn't able to bring a bit more of this well known personality into the film throughout. The last third was definitely the highlight of the movie and did get more exciting and definitely heightened the emotion of the movie.

The advertising for this movie was weird. It focused on the funny moments, pushed it as a family movie, and even featured interviews with the main actors in commercials for the streaming release, as if to say "Hey, look, actors from The Office! You like them, right? Please watch our movie." After watching the movie, the advertising feels deceptive, and I think IF would be more well-liked if they promoted it as what it was: a sappy movie about finding your inner child.

To start, I'll say that anyone claiming this movie is a ripoff of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is way off base. The comparison only makes sense because there aren't many other works about imaginary friends. The premise is similar, but the tone is completely different, and IF is more so about returning imaginary friends to their original owners.

As I mentioned, this movie is really sappy. It's sweet and heartfelt, and conveys the nostalgia of remembering your childhood imaginary friend. You might cry. It seems to be aimed mainly at adults. I enjoyed it as a 19-year-old, but other reviewers have mentioned that their young children got bored or found it too sad. The plot is weird. It's not a long movie, but at times it feels empty, slow-paced, or overly simple/childish. There were plenty of good moments, but it seemed to try to maintain a sweet and nostalgic tone for the entire film, which could get stale. It sometimes felt like the creators were challenged to string as many heartwarming moments together as possible with only a thin plot. Nonetheless, I didn't completely dislike it. The plot twist at the end is of note: it felt random at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense, and the more meaningful the rest of the film became in hindsight.

Overall, it was a bit disappointing, but it was nice to watch, and I think I'd watch it again. It felt like a sincere attempt at a good movie that fell a bit short, which is always better than a movie that's clearly just trying to make money. If you're looking for a comedy or a movie small children will like, you should skip it, but if you like sweet and sappy movies, I recommend it.

I am 70 years old and my wife is right there with me. My childhood was filled with movies that entertained, made you sad, made you happy, and sometimes really made you think. Seems like lately, movies have dropped the "entertaining" part in order to lecture you on a variety of social issues. It's still possible to find movies that do what movies were supposed to do but they are rarely from the major studios (Unsung Hero, Arthur the King, The Shift).

However, what a delight THIS movie is.... It makes you run the gamut of emotions from sadness to anticipation to thinking you know what's going to happen to having your heart warmed :)

We absolutely loved this movie and will probably see it again before it leaves the theater.

On a side note, I continue to be amazed by these young actors who can display such a wide range of emotions. Much like Alisha Weir in Abigail, Cailey Fleming absolutely nailed the role.

If you want a family friendly movie to take your kids to, this one is it!

My youngest daughter wanted to see this, it has Ryan Reynolds in it, so I thought "what the heck". Man I did not anticipate that I would be a bumbling crying mess at the end of this film.

I wouldn't say this is a kids film, it's more of a film for adults who still have that child still inside of them, but they lost their way when they grew up and became adults. This is a movie for the child inside all of us, that still has that glimmer of hope.

John Krasinski seems like a big child, and that's basically what he was playing in here. I don't mean that in a negative way, I find it very endearing because you don't see that a lot anymore in people.

I really liked seeing the imagination of the little girl in here, but as I stated this is a HEAVY movie, so some things kids may not enjoy in here. When we got out of the movie I asked my daughter "did you like the movie?" and she said "yeah, it was funny and sad". I would have to agree with her assessment.

I would say that if you have a child that has trouble concentrating or sitting still, then they will be miserable in this. This is definitely targeted more for adults.