PHOTO COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES

I’m not sure that “IF” is actually for kids.

It’s certainly appropriate for kids, but I don’t think it’s made to appeal to them. I think it’s made to appeal to adults who want to share a movie with their kids — or, perhaps, their inner child. It’s heartwarming, sincere and lovely; this is a movie that will make you cry even if you’re barely paying attention.

Is that what kids want, though? I think kids might get bored and switch to one of the “Despicable Me” flicks.

Those films, mediocre though they often are, are humor-forward — films where the jokes are the point and the feelings are a byproduct. “IF,” however, is feelings-forward, a heart-on-its-sleeve fable about reconnecting with the wonder and imagination of youth. It’s less about the world children live in than it’s about the world adults have forgotten.

That’s an interesting subject, and “IF” has moments of genuine insight. Not sure that’s what kids are after, but hey: “IF” is what it is.

Narrator and protagonist Bea (Cailey Fleming), a 12-year-old who insists she’s no longer a kid, has lost her mother to cancer; now her father (John Krasinski, also the film’s writer/director) is getting ready for heart surgery. She moves in with an absent-minded grandmother (Fiona Shaw) and swiftly notices something strange is afoot: Cartoonish creatures are wandering around her building, ranging from a giant purple whatsit to a lithe butterfly-esque dancer.

There’s also an exasperated human (Ryan Reynolds) trying to corral these figments, who identify themselves as imaginary friends — or IFs, in a shorthand that’s given far too much discussion. Bea begins to work to pair the IFs with new kids as our assembled grown-ups learn lessons about life and confidence.

The premise is maudlin, but the tone is so sincere that “IF” is likable. Krasinski might’ve been better served by sharing the screenwriting duties, but his approach behind the camera is appropriately earnest and awestruck — a cavalcade of eye-widening spectacle, culminating in an exuberant dance number beneath the Coney Island boardwalk. The effects, too, are convincing, believably placing a delightful variety of IFs in real-world settings.

Saccharine though the story may be, the results are charming. If the hand is a bit overplayed, its so darn likable that you won’t be upset.

If you’re a grown-up, anyway. If you’re a kid, you’re too busy talking with your own IFs to worry about all these adults and their feelings.

My Rating: 6/10

“IF” is now playing in theaters.