Even as he continues working on Deadpool 3 with Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds has other projects on the hob—he always does, he is a BUSY guy. He legit seems to be the type who thrives on having a lot of plates spinning at any given moment.
His latest is a collaboration with John Krasinski called IF, a family-friendly film about imaginary friends and a couple of people helping them to do…something. Honestly? This teaser is not great. It gives no sense of who these characters are to one another, or what the central conflict is. A teaser should establish at bare minimum the who and the what, and the teaser for IF does neither. Check it out:
I actually had to watch the behind-the-scenes featurette to learn that Reynolds is NOT playing that girl’s probably estranged dad. He’s actually playing a character called “the man upstairs”, who joins the child, Bea (played by Cailey Fleming), on a quest to save the imaginary friends from…something. Still not sure what the problem is. Are they going to disappear, Bing Bong style, if they don’t find new children to befriend? Are they unionizing like a Monsters, Inc. situation? What’s the deal? No idea.
But the cast list reads like a glimpse into John Krasinksi’s New York social circle, with Steve Carell and Phoebe Waller-Bridge headlining the voice cast of imaginary friends, which also includes Emily Blunt, Maya Rudolph, Sam Rockwell, Louis Gossett, Jr., Jon Stewart, Matt Damon, Sebastian Maniscalco, and Christopher Meloni. It’s an impressive cast, to be sure, I just wish I knew what the hell this movie actually IS. (In contrast, the teaser for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is shorter than the teaser for IF and yet it clearly establishes that Axel Foley is a cop who ruffles the feathers of other cops. For those in the know, Axel is back to his old tricks, for newcomers, you get a sense this is an action comedy about a wildcard cop. Sold!)
I will say something nice now: the banana joke is solid. The animation is really good, so simple yet so expressive. Maybe put more of that in the full trailer? Or at least give us a hint about what the problem even is, for all we know, these people are trying to rob a bank with their imaginary friends? Actually, I would watch the sh-t out of that movie. Is IF a heist movie? How would we even know!
Also attached - Ryan filming Deadpool 3 with Hugh Jackman the other day.
