The majority of this film I was questioning this film, I won't lie. The messaging seemed all over the place, the target demographic similarly seemed to vary scene to scene. There were a bunch of grin inducing moments and some good laughs, but I was frustrated by the film's lack of commitment to answers or internal logic, why certain things are important etc. I was very impressed with some of the acting, John Krasinski and Fiona Shaw are delightful in particular and the stacked cast is a wonder of "I know that voice" all of which are charming. But it seemed the key function of pairing imaginary friends with kids to be a very child friendly line. The way it takes it in reality is far more adult while still being a little confusing. I got about 70 minutes into this film and started wondering why, if anything other than a 1 sentence summary John Krasinski and Ryan Reynolds had said this was a live action Pixar film.
The ending and the subsequent hours of reinterpretation and pondering leave me in awe of its execution. I still think there are problems, and scenes that feel very haphazard in some ways, and I still feel some bewilderment over a film that takes 90% of its run time to come into its own. It's a fantastic twist, and similar to Gone Girl (an odd but apt and well considered comparison given that to mention any others would constitute a spoiler) is one of the best examples of a twist impacting your entire viewing experience, I've ever seen. Everything crystallises and the amount you get from it as a young adult increases exponentially-I can only wait and look forward to how its meaning and poignancy will change throughout the rest of my life as the best Pixar films do.
The ending and the subsequent hours of reinterpretation and pondering leave me in awe of its execution. I still think there are problems, and scenes that feel very haphazard in some ways, and I still feel some bewilderment over a film that takes 90% of its run time to come into its own. It's a fantastic twist, and similar to Gone Girl (an odd but apt and well considered comparison given that to mention any others would constitute a spoiler) is one of the best examples of a twist impacting your entire viewing experience, I've ever seen. Everything crystallises and the amount you get from it as a young adult increases exponentially-I can only wait and look forward to how its meaning and poignancy will change throughout the rest of my life as the best Pixar films do.