IF: Amigos Imaginários

... The dialogue between Bea and other real-world characters tends toward the obvious. But among the IFs the movie slants toward something fresher - if not absolute originality, then at least a dash of imagination.

It is a smudgy valentine, all heart, whimsy, and charm. If the message is a bit messy and the logic not quite sound, for me that was more than made up for by the tenderness.

What is supposed to be a comedy develops into an honest film about coping with loss.

Krasinski's paper-thin script [...] gestures broadly at a kind of mechanical worldbuilding but soon throws its hands up in the air and greedily chases one heartstring after another.

Simultaneously exploits childhood grief while cloyingly indulging the inner child of grown-ups.

This undercooked family comedy weeper from writer-director John Krasinski seems stuck in script development mode, like no one knew what to do with it past its title.

Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar, sucralose is 600 times sweeter than sugar, and "IF" is considerably sweeter than either. Chemically if not cinematically, it's noteworthy. A drop of it would sweeten a swimming pool of coffee.

IF does make the case for finding the fun in life, but in a movie that needs to be more fun than it is.

What's more impressive: Krasinski's imagination or the very real friends in his Rolodex?

By movie's end, one can imagine more than one adult in the multiplex running home, checking under the bed, hoping to find a trusted old friend.

This well-intentioned and intermittently clever blend of live action and animation is so murky and slow-paced the grown-ups will get restless, while it falls short when it comes to creating truly memorable CGI characters and providing a true sense of joy.

IF is an imaginary friend that's best left unseen.

Sweet and sincere, though not the heart-squeezer it could have been.

The storytelling of "IF" itself is a mess: a heartfelt but dramatically inert endeavor that whipsaws between tones ranging from whimsical to morose.

The most charitable read on John Krasinski's IF is that using your imagination shouldn't be bound by traditional story structure, so why should a film about unfettered imagination need the same?

IF reminds us how certain key ingredients - charm, wit, clarity, emotional tact and resonance - cannot be willed into narrative existence, or fixed in post.

Every beat of IF is writ large, making for an unnatural viewing experience, one where charming moments are frustratingly loud, drowning out the film as a whole.

Despite a star-studded voice cast and a terrific lead in Cailey Fleming, this big-hearted animation-live action hybrid doesn't feel magical like the Pixar films it aspires to emulate.

Mostly the filmmakers detour, decorate and digitize their story rather than telling it, and that doesn't mesh well with the real-world stuff.

I am slightly iffy about IF.