Classic movie fans will immediately recognize a brief clip watched by one of the characters in “IF.” It is James Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd in “Harvey,” a gentle fantasy about a man who is the only one who can see a tall invisible rabbit-looking creature called a pooka, named Harvey. Later in that film, when a doctor tries to assess his mental capacity, Dowd says, “I’ve wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it.” Another touchstone for the film is that moment, more heartbreaking for parents than children, when Bing Bong dissolves in Pixar’s “Inside Out.” Writer/director/star John Krasinski says he made “IF” because he realized his daughters were on the cusp of that end of childhood when imagination is real to them. The movie’s poignance will be felt most acutely by parents, aware of their own fleeting moments of magic as children and, while looking forward to the milestones of their own children, missing the magic and even the exhaustion of the early years.

The title “IF” mostly stands for “Invisible Friend,” but also a little bit stands for the word we use to conjure up infinite possibilities. The world Krasinski has conjured up here is beguiling, with a handmade, retro feel. The Paramount logo at the beginning looks like a child’s finger-painting and the movie itself is a smudgy valentine, all heart, whimsy, and charm. If the message is a bit messy and the logic not quite sound, for me that was more than made up for by the tenderness.

It takes place in present-day-ish, no cell phones, no internet searches, an apartment building and apartment decor that dates back to the 40s or 50s. The soundtrack includes some classic songs, played on, stay with me kids, a vinyl record on a Victor Victrola with a trumpet horn, like they made a hundred years ago. Cal wears suspenders and a hat that’s vintage, not hipster. The light is soft. And there is a beguiling enchanted amusement park on the beach.

Cailey Fleming is lovely as Bea, a 12-year-old girl staying with her grandmother (the always-wonderful Fiona Shaw, a long way from Harry Potter’s aunt) while her dad joke-aficionado father (Krasinski) is in the hospital. As we see early on, Bea’s adored mother died when she was young, so her father’s illness is hitting her very hard. When her grandmother tries to welcome her into the apartment she once shared with both parents by offering her the paints she used to enjoy, Bea stiffly says she is too told for them now.

She goes for a walk and sees what she thinks might be a girl her age. But she is not. Bea discovers that Blossom (voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge) is an imaginary friend who looks like a girl-sized talking butterfly, who lives in an apartment in the same building where Bea is staying, with Cal (Ryan Reynolds) and Blue (Steve Carrell) a gigantic, fluffy purple imaginary friend with a sweet, goofy smile. Cal explains that there are a lot of imaginary friends who have been outgrown by the children who created them. Cal and Blossom are trying to find new children for the abandoned imaginary friends, so they don’t disappear. Bea is captivated by the idea and volunteers to help.

Krasinski assembled an all-star cast to provide voices for the amusingly varied group of imaginary friends, including George Clooney as an astronaut, Bradley Cooper as an ice cube, Emily Blunt as a unicorn, Awkwafina as a bubble, and the late Louis Gossett, Jr. as a bear named Lewis. Cal, Bea, and Lewis interview the IFs to try to match them up with children who share their interests and need their skills. But it turns out that may not be the answer they are looking for. The one they find will be as reassuring to kids as it is to parents.

Parents should know that, as in many stories with children at the center, this one begins with a sad loss of a parent. And her remaining parent is also ill. and in the hospital for surgery.

Family discussion: What stories do you like to tell? Which IF is your favorite and why? What IF will you imagine?

If you like this, try: “Inside Out” and “Tuck Everlasting”

It was a privilege to talk about one of my favorite movies and one of my favorite lawsuits for the “Law on Film” podcast.

Happy Mother’s Day! My ebook, 50 Must-See Movie Mothers, is free May 10-14 on Amazon.

The movies have given us warm, loving, mothers (Marmee in “Little Women,” Sally Field in “Places in the Heart”), evil, abusive mothers (Gladys Cooper in “Now, Voyager,” Jackie Weaver in “Animal Kingdom,” Anjelica Huston in “The Grifters”), even alien mothers (“Alien,” “Enemy Mine”).  Some recent great movie mothers include Carrie Coon in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” Viola Davis in “Air,” and America Ferrara in “Barbie.”

Here are some of my favorites from classic films:

Claudia Before they went on to co-star in the luminous romance, “The Enchanted Cottage,” Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young played a young married couple in this sweet neglected gem based on the books by Rose Franken.  Claudia and David love each other very much and he finds her innocence very appealing.  But her immaturity leads to many problems.  A neighbor thinks Claudia is flirting with him and without consulting David she impulsively decides to sell their farm.  And she is very dependent on the loving mother she adores but takes for granted.  Claudia’s is about to face two of life’s most demanding challenges – her mother is dying and Claudia and David are going to become parents themselves.  So Claudia’s mother has to find a way to help Claudia grow up.  Watch for: a rare film appearance by the exquisite Broadway star Ina Claire as Claudia’s mother

Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner There are two great mothers in this talky, dated, but still endearing “issue movie” about inter-racial marriage from 1967.  Katharine Hepburn’s real-life niece Katharine Houghton plays her daughter and what Houghton lacks in screen presence and acting experience is less important than the genuine connection and palpable affection between the two of them.  The question may seem quaint now, but as filming was underway, inter-racial marriage was still illegal in 17 states.  The Supreme Court ruled those laws unconstitutional that same year.  Hepburn is electrifying in what she knew would be her final film with her most frequent co-star and real-life great love, Spencer Tracy.  And the distinguished actress Beah Richards is brilliant as the mother of a son who says his father thinks of himself as a “colored man,” while he just thinks of himself as a man.  Watch for: Hepburn’s expression as her daughter describes falling in love

Claudine Diahann Carroll was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as a single mother in this ground-breaking 1974 film, one of the first to portray a domestic employee as a real person with her own home and family, and one of the first to provide an honest look at the perverse incentives of the “Great Society” welfare programs.  Claudine is the mother of six who has to keep her work as a housekeeper and her relationship with a genial garbage worker (James Earl Jones) a secret from the social worker because they put at risk the payments she needs for her children.  Watch for: the very romantic bathtub scene

Dear Frankie Emily Mortimer plays Lizzie, the divorced mother of a young deaf son in this heartwarming story set in Scotland.  She is devoted and very protective.  She does not want him to know the truth about his abusive father (the source of his deafness), so she tells him that his father is a merchant seaman.  The letters he receives from all the ports of call full of details about all the places he has been are really written by Lizzie. When the ship comes to their town, she has to find someone to pretend to be his father.  Watch for: Lizzie’s explanation of the reason she writes to Frankie —  “because it’s the only way I can hear his voice”

Imitation of Life This melodrama about two single mothers, one white and one black, who join forces has been filmed twice and both are worth seeing.  The best remembered is the glossy, glamorous 1959 version with Lana Turner and Juanita Moore.  Lora (Turner) and Annie (Moore) are brought together by their daughters, who meet at Coney Island.  Lora, a struggling actress, needs someone to help look after her daughter and Annie needs a job and a place to live.  Annie moves in to be the housekeeper/nanny.  She and Lora have a strong, supportive friendship, though Lora and both girls take Annie for granted.  As the girls grow up, Lora’s daughter is resentful of the time her mother spends on her career and Annie’s daughter resents the racism she confronts even though her skin is so light she can pass for white.  Watch for: the most elaborate funeral scene ever put on film, with a sobbing apology from Annie’s daughter (Susan Kohner)

Please Don’t Eat the Daisies Doris Day stars in this film loosely based on Jean Kerr’s hilarious essays about life as Kate, the wife of a theater critic (David Niven) and mother of four rambunctious boys.  While most of the film’s focus is on the marital strains caused by her husband’s new job and the family’s new home, the scenes of Kate’s interactions with her children are among the highlights.  It is clear that while she tries to be understated about her affection and sometimes frustration, she adores them.  Watch for: Kate’s affectionate interactions with her own mother, played by Spring Byington

Know going in that this is the kind of movie where the humans are mute, cognitively impaired, and yet the main human character wears tailored pants and a woven shirt that look like they came from the mall. This should not be a surprise as it is also the kind of movie there the title is, at best, paradoxical, as a planet is bigger than a kingdom and in any even the kingdom in this story is only a small part of the planet. So shouldn’t it be “Kingdom ON the Planet of the Apes?” Of all the suspension of disbelief required for the film, the idea that complex machinery would operate as intended after hundreds of years — well, that idea procured intended laughs in Woody Allen’s “Sleeper” and unintended laughs in “Battlefield Earth.”

Know, too, that, for anyone who is trying to keep track of the “how does ‘Tokyo Drift’ fit into the chronology”-type questions about the original series of films, the television show, and the Tim Burton-and-after movies, this one takes place a long time after the death of legendary character Cesar, who sacrificed himself, and, possibly, before the Charlton Heston original. Maybe.

Noa (Owen Teague) is a young, male ape who lives in a gentle clan with his parents and two best friends. We first see them preparing for a coming-of-age ritual. Each of them must find an eagle’s egg (but always leaving one in the nest), and bring it back safely. The clan is centered around their trained eagles, and Noa’s stern father is their leader. Noa struggles to get his father’s approval. We see that they have some signs of what we think of as human civilization, in addition to the rituals. They have built some simple structures as homes, they ride horses, they obey the rules of the clan, and they have adornments and some tools and simple weapons, like slingshots. Also, as mentioned above, that most human of attributes, daddy issues.

A marauding group of apes arrive, with more powerful weapons, including spears with taser-like points. They destroy the compound, kill Noa’s father, and capture everyone else, except for Noa, who manages to escape, vowing to find his clan and get revenge. He meets up with Raca (the deep, kind voice of Peter Macon), a follower of the lessons of Cesar. And they meet up with a human woman they call Nova (Freya Allan) — cue the jokes about how humans are slow-witted and smell bad.

They try to drop Nova off with a group of humans (note: none wearing pants and a shirt), but the same marauding apes arrive to capture the humans like cowboys capture mustangs or, in “The Time Machine,” the Morlocks capture the Eloi. It turns out Nova has some secrets.

She and Noa are themselves captured by the apes, they find themselves in the kingdom of Proximus (Kevin Durand), a tyrant who, like the male humans of our time, is obsessed with Ancient Rome. They live on what was once a human stronghold, and Proximus is determined to break into the vault, to get access to whatever it was the humans were so intent on protecting.

I suspect we may hear some people claim that this film is intended as a metaphor to illuminate some of the most divisive topics of our era — colonialism, immigration, xenophobia, the way we tell our history. That gives this film too much credit, but the way both Raca and Proximus claim to be the true heirs of Cesar’s authority, with very different interpretations of his message, should resonate with viewers.

We are mostly there for the special effects and action scenes, though, and those are vivid and effective. The settings are stunning and the motion capture and CGI are next-level, giving the ape characters real weight and their expressions, well, expressive. As one of the most enduring series in history moves, potentially, toward the time of the very first film, the questions remain: whether humans and apes can find a way to co-exist, whether technology can advance without causing great harm and existential threats, and whether humans or apes can ever find a way to overcome fear and greed to work together for the common good.

Parents should know that this movie includes extended peril and violence. Characters are injured and killed and there are some graphic and disturbing images. Characters use brief strong language (a human teaches it to the apes, of course).

Family discussion: Why did the clans have such different cultures?

If you like this, try: the other movies in the series and the original films with Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter, and Charlton Heston

Many thanks to Don Rosen for inviting me on his radio program for a long talk about the movies we’re expecting this summer, “The Godfather” and its sequels, having Jerry Seinfeld as a kindergarten classmate (Don) and meeting President Kennedy (me).

You can hear the interview as a podcast here.