IF trailer unveils a family-friendly movie directed by John Krasinski
He wrote it too, but he might as well have used ChatGPT.
Wondering about John Krasinski's next directing gig after killing it with the two A Quiet Place movies released so far? Well, IF (not Imaginary Friends as originally titled) is the answer you maybe weren't expecting.
Krasinski built a career out of being a remarkably funny (and heartwarming) guy in the American remake of The Office as Jim Halpert, so maybe he was always destined to write and direct mainstream comedies, but IF is looking a bit too sugary and clean for my taste. The premise sounds trite; the jokes feel tailor-made for Ryan Reynolds' now overdone comedic style; there are underdesigned cartoony monsters causing wacky situations in familiar environments; and the cast feels like a giant checklist of whoever was available to add 'star power' to a feature that otherwise looks by-the-numbers. You can judge the first trailer for yourself here.
On top of the first look at the movie, Krasinski shared a poster also covered in names yesterday on social media:
The synopsis reads as follows: "Follows a young girl who goes through a difficult experience and then begins to see everyone's imaginary friends who have been left behind as their real-life friends have grown up." You just know how the entire thing is going to play out, but I'd love to be proven wrong. After all, Krasinski's past big-screen scripts have all been pretty smart despite their simple pitches.
IF stars Ryan Reynolds, John Krasinski, Cailey Fleming, Fiona Shaw, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Maya Rudolph, Jon Stewart, Bobby Moynihan, Sam Rockwell, Sebastian Maniscalco, Christopher Meloni, Richard Jenkins, Awkwafina, Steve Carrell, and Louis Gossett Jr. I know those people!