IF

Cal being Bea's imaginary friend is NOT a surprise, but it DOES play because he doesn't interact with anyone else in the movie. It's sort of like The Sixth Sense, only it won't bum you out.

I love that Dad's IF turns out to be Keith. Great closing joke.

Christopher Meloni was hilarious as Cosmo.

Love the tribute to Louis Gossett Jr. at the end.

Speaking of the credits, Ryan Reynolds is listed as one of the grips. Either that grip coincidentally has the same name as the star, or Reynolds is trying to get into the behind the scenes film business. John Krasinski started as an actor, so it would make sense he gave Reynolds this specific job. I'm not gonna check IMDB yet for sure. More fun to speculate about for now.

I have to confess I wasn't sure what to make of the film as it was going along. It was a similar experience to me as Napoleon Dynamite. I was also unsure of that film as I was watching it, and only decided I liked it after it was over. "IF" won me over BEFORE it ended, but still, I spent a great deal of the time watching it sort of keeping my mind open and unsure of what I was seeing.

That's not actually a BAD thing. But it IS unusual for a children's film.

But yeah, it was sweet and I liked it. 4 stars.