4/5
Reviewed May 23, 2024
Comedy/Drama for all ages. As director John Krasinski put it, this is basically a live action Pixar movie that works for kids and adults in different ways. Cailey Fleming is a young girl, Bea, who has returned to stay at her grandmother’s home in NYC while her father is in the hospital; previous amazing times and trauma happened there, and she’s a very “grown up” 12 year old. However, she discovers a wacky neighbor Calvin (Ryan Reynolds) who is secretly working with Imaginary Friends (IFs), trying to find new kids for ones whose kids grew up and forgot about them. There’s a lot of twists and turns and feels, and it’ll leave you thinking about things. Spoilers below.
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I was getting strong Sixth Sense vibes from it, and it turns out that I was right. Calvin was Bea’s imaginary friend – not animated like the others, but a human clown. He’s grown disillusioned with being forgotten and is quite grumpy, but ultimately works with Bea to see if they can help the IFs who have been forgotten….all the while knowing that she can see him, but has forgotten who HE is. It’s a great twist with a few hints thrown in at times; he never interacts with people other than Bea, there’s a line from Lewis bear that talks about his past as a clown (and we see some imagery of this in the opening montage), and he’s super dodgy about his past – how long could he see IFs, as long as he could remember, cause he IS one. Welcoming her back but not acknowledging a connection. Saying “it’s your show” in the Retirement home when she wants to help IFs. Really well done. The final attic scene certainly was a tear-jerker.
Some other random thoughts: This is a film about grief and resiliency and how to stay strong and creative and FUN in life, even with things getting you down. Krasinski’s dad character is told that he doesn’t need to keep doing fun gags and yet he always says he’ll never stop. That’s what he’s trying to tell the audience, and it’s a good message. Bea starts going from “I’m not a kid” to “I’m just a kid” and then back to “I’m not a kid” when her dad has a setback with his surgery. Her tearful story to her dad is a heck of a scene and Fleming is great. Honestly, the entire cast is great. It’s stacked, but most of them are a few line cameos as IFs. Was shocked that the person that steals the show the most to me was veteran actress Fiona Shaw – her dancing sequence tugs at the heartstrings something fierce.
This film is downright gorgeous. The non-hospital settings are vibrant and full of life. Grandma’s apartment feels alive and lived in, even if Bea isn’t super happy with it to start. The attic apartment is full of wonder and amazement. The Retirement home starts off drab and boring, because that’s what our cynical Calvin feels it is; Bea brightens it up and does amazing things with it. The power of imagination, captured on a film screen.
There’s lots of references and in jokes. Bea at one point is watching a classic Jimmy Stewart film where he’s got an imaginary friend. There’s this running gag with “Keith”, an invisible IF that Calvin keeps tripping on; eventually you find out he belongs to Krasinski! In the credits, there’s an “introducing Brad Pitt as Keith” which is a fantastic Deadpool 2 reference – he played the Invisible Man as a joke cameo, and of course Ryan Reynolds being the co-lead here makes sense for the joke.
Watching Blue pair back up with his human, Jeremy, to give him confidence before a big meeting….was humbling. That’s what these creatures are for, to help give kids confidence and power, and it’s saying that even as adults we sometimes need that internal boost to do our best.
Quick points: The comedy isn’t laugh-out-loud variety, but it’s very enjoyable. The main theme of the film is a remix of “Some Enchanted Evening” and I was humming it repeatedly. The opening montage is clever in that it shows happy kid memories but slowly starts revealing the mom has cancer; tricky and powerful move. Finally, the animation is really well done and each IF had very distinct styles.
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So yeah, I really enjoyed this one. I’m not sure it’s for everybody, but it’s absolutely worth a watch.
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