‘IF’ review: Krasinski’s film isn’t playful enough

livemint.com:

If) is scheduled for a surgery. Temporarily living with her grandmother, in an old-world multi-story connected by wooden stairs, where every home has a gramophone and camcorder, a forlorn Bea begins to see strange creatures. There she spots a ballerina doll called Blossom (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge), and then she’s overwhelmed to see a giant, furry, purple monster named Blue (voiced by Steve Carrell) both of who live upstairs with neighbour Cal (Ryan Reynolds).

Bea’s ability to see these imaginary creatures gives her an entry to the IF or Imaginary Friends retirement home for once loved and now redundant IFs – from unicorns to teddy bears, an invisible man named Keith, a talking cold glass of water, a flaming marshmallow and blob of green jelly. They rue the loss of their now grown-up human friends who seemingly no longer see their imaginary friends. Bea offers to help out on a new scheme – a kind of matchmaking service to pair IFs with new children, or perhaps rekindle memories to reunite them with their former friends.

This is the mid-act of the Krasinski helmed 104-minute-long family fantasy drama which delivers little else, bookended by Bea’s own trauma, fears and intense need to remain a child. The relationships are largely underdeveloped, such as Benjamin who befriends Bea in hospital as well as Bea’s interactions with her father. The cast includes top talents such as Emily Blunt, George Clooney, Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon, Sam Rockwell, Jon Stewart and Amy Schumer, many of whom voice characters that make fleeting appearances.