IF
Just finished watching "IF" released by Paramount.
Now upon its release back in May 2024, IF, which is short for Imaginary Friend, it opened to mixed reviews and is considered to be a box office failure, grossing over $190.3 million against a budget of $110 million. Its always amusing to see what Hollywood considers a success and failure.
IF may become a cult classic n the future. It does have an element of the "Wizard of Oz" to it and explores the power of belief, love, and hope lost and regained.
Bea, who just turned 12, moves into her grandmother Margaret's apartment in New York while her father waits for heart surgery in the same hospital where her mother died of cancer years earlier. One night, Bea sees an unfamiliar creature, following it back to her grandmother's building.
The next day, Bea sees it again, accompanied by a man. She follows them to a nearby house where the man, Cal, retrieves a large furry purple creature named Blue. Bea also meets the other creature, a butterfly-like being named Blossom, and faints.
Bea awakens in Cal's apartment where she learns that he has been working with imaginary friends (or IFs) to place them with new children as their original children have grown up and forgotten them, and they will soon disappear. Initially reluctant, she eventually decides to help Cal.
The next day, Cal takes Bea to Memory Lane Retirement Home, a retirement community for IFs housed underneath a swing ride in Coney Island. An elderly teddy bear and the head of the facility named Lewis inspires her to use her imagination to redesign the facility, much to the chagrin of Cal. Bea tries to match one of the IFs with Benjamin, a young patient at the hospital, but he is unable to see any of them. Lewis suggests to Bea that maybe IFs do not need new kids, but rather to reunite with their old ones.
Talking with her grandmother, Bea sees a photo of her as a young dancer and recognizes Blossom in the background. Realizing she was her grandmother's IF, she decides to test Lewis' idea. Playing one of her grandmother's records inspires Margaret to dance and she remembers Blossom, instilling Bea with hope.
Following a tip, Bea, Cal, and Blue find Blue's original kid Jeremy, now a grown man trying to launch a business. With Bea's help Jeremy remembers Blue, who gives him the confidence he needs for a business presentation.
That evening, Bea arrives at Margaret's who frantically informs her granddaughter that there has been a complication with her father's treatment. Comforted by Cal, Bea says she does not want to say goodbye to her dad, so he suggests she tell him a story instead.
At the hospital, Bea tells her father a story about how she was pushing herself to act like a grown-up when she is just a child who still needs her father. He wakes up and they hug. When Bea goes outside his hospital room, she sees that all of the IFs, who had accompanied her to the hospital, are gone.
Returning to her grandmother's building, Bea goes to thank Cal only to discover that the door to his apartment opens into an old storage room as revealed by the landlady. After her dad is released from the hospital, he and Bea pack up to go home. During this, Bea realizes from an old picture she painted that Cal is actually her own IF, whom she had forgotten after her mother's death. Bea rushes to Cal's room and thanks him for helping, telling him she will always need him. This allows her to see Cal and the IFs again and they reunite.
Some time later, Cal continues reuniting the IFs with their original kids, now grown up. Benjamin meets his IF, a cartoonish bespectacled dragon with a cast and crutch.
IF is a movie with heart and the revelation of who Cal is a stunning revelation.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Blu-Ray-Digita...
Now upon its release back in May 2024, IF, which is short for Imaginary Friend, it opened to mixed reviews and is considered to be a box office failure, grossing over $190.3 million against a budget of $110 million. Its always amusing to see what Hollywood considers a success and failure.
IF may become a cult classic n the future. It does have an element of the "Wizard of Oz" to it and explores the power of belief, love, and hope lost and regained.
Bea, who just turned 12, moves into her grandmother Margaret's apartment in New York while her father waits for heart surgery in the same hospital where her mother died of cancer years earlier. One night, Bea sees an unfamiliar creature, following it back to her grandmother's building.
The next day, Bea sees it again, accompanied by a man. She follows them to a nearby house where the man, Cal, retrieves a large furry purple creature named Blue. Bea also meets the other creature, a butterfly-like being named Blossom, and faints.
Bea awakens in Cal's apartment where she learns that he has been working with imaginary friends (or IFs) to place them with new children as their original children have grown up and forgotten them, and they will soon disappear. Initially reluctant, she eventually decides to help Cal.
The next day, Cal takes Bea to Memory Lane Retirement Home, a retirement community for IFs housed underneath a swing ride in Coney Island. An elderly teddy bear and the head of the facility named Lewis inspires her to use her imagination to redesign the facility, much to the chagrin of Cal. Bea tries to match one of the IFs with Benjamin, a young patient at the hospital, but he is unable to see any of them. Lewis suggests to Bea that maybe IFs do not need new kids, but rather to reunite with their old ones.
Talking with her grandmother, Bea sees a photo of her as a young dancer and recognizes Blossom in the background. Realizing she was her grandmother's IF, she decides to test Lewis' idea. Playing one of her grandmother's records inspires Margaret to dance and she remembers Blossom, instilling Bea with hope.
Following a tip, Bea, Cal, and Blue find Blue's original kid Jeremy, now a grown man trying to launch a business. With Bea's help Jeremy remembers Blue, who gives him the confidence he needs for a business presentation.
That evening, Bea arrives at Margaret's who frantically informs her granddaughter that there has been a complication with her father's treatment. Comforted by Cal, Bea says she does not want to say goodbye to her dad, so he suggests she tell him a story instead.
At the hospital, Bea tells her father a story about how she was pushing herself to act like a grown-up when she is just a child who still needs her father. He wakes up and they hug. When Bea goes outside his hospital room, she sees that all of the IFs, who had accompanied her to the hospital, are gone.
Returning to her grandmother's building, Bea goes to thank Cal only to discover that the door to his apartment opens into an old storage room as revealed by the landlady. After her dad is released from the hospital, he and Bea pack up to go home. During this, Bea realizes from an old picture she painted that Cal is actually her own IF, whom she had forgotten after her mother's death. Bea rushes to Cal's room and thanks him for helping, telling him she will always need him. This allows her to see Cal and the IFs again and they reunite.
Some time later, Cal continues reuniting the IFs with their original kids, now grown up. Benjamin meets his IF, a cartoonish bespectacled dragon with a cast and crutch.
IF is a movie with heart and the revelation of who Cal is a stunning revelation.
Strongly Recommended.
Five Stars.
https://www.amazon.com/Blu-Ray-Digita...
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