SOUL

Voices of:  Jamie Foxx     Tina Fey     Daveed Diggs     Angela Bassett     Phylicia Rashad

     This is a Pixar movie renowned for its colorful history of bringing movies to children (e.g., the Toy Story series, Finding Nemo, Inside Out, Up, Coco, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc.).  In Soul, it is up to its reputation in superb animation and graphics, characterization, and music (Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross).  Whether or not children will grasp the intended principles planted in the script is yet to be seen. It has a “smell the roses while you may” quality to it that adults will clearly get, and its treatment of death will be meaningful to them as well.  Perhaps children will be entertained primarily by the imaginative animation, design, and effects…and watching Joe’s ungainly navigation and the spunky cat, 22.  

     The story is that Joe (Foxx), a middle school band teacher is gifted in his work, but aspiring to be a jazz musician, much against the advice of his mother (Rashad).  When he gets talked into an audition with the Half Note combo led by Dorothea (Bassett), he nails it and forgets about teaching.  In fact, he is so excited he’s not careful where he’s going and steps into a manhole, losing consciousness.  

     The writers Pete Docter (director as well), Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers have invented a “holding” place for Joe to go while he awaits his final destiny.  He freaks out when he realizes where he’s going and runs backwards trying to escape.  Where he ends up is a place populated by little amorphous beings yet to be born, one of which is the misfit 22, who has never found that spark that will light up her life.  Somehow during this time, a mistake is made in assignments, and Joe gets assigned to be a mentor to 22.  After bickering with one another, they find a loophole in the system and manage to get themselves transported back to earth, where Joe hopes to rejoin the combo and be a jazz musician.  But after they land, he is in a hospital bed with a cat the nurses have given him as therapy.  In another accident of fate, 22 the cat ends up in Joe’s body and he in hers, but despite everything, they manage to escape the hospital and head toward the Half Note.

     There are plenty of adventures along the way and the insights they each gain about life will be passed on to the viewers in story-like fashion.  Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey as Joe and 22 make up a funny, entertaining duo, and they are finely backed up by Angela Bassett, Phylicia Rashad, and Daveed Diggs.  The music is remarkable in that Jon Batiste (TV’s “The Late Show”) weaves in his elegant jazz into Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s original score, resulting in an innovative combination.  

     This is one of the few animated pictures that might need subsequent viewings to grasp a complex script and fully appreciate the score.

 

Another Pixar success in a long stream of captivating animated productions.

 

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

INSIDE OUT

Voices of:  Amy Poehler   Phyllis Smith   Mindy Kaling   Lewis Black   Bill Hader   Richard Kind   Kaitlyn Dias

From the clever title to the animation, the script, and the actors, Inside Out is a positive tale about how to deal with emotions.  The primary thought coming through is that negative emotions like sadness, anger, and fear are healthy and need to be expressed in order to get the “bad” that’s inside neutralized or to use one (such as anger) to accomplish a task.  At one point, Anger (Black) blows fire out his head to break a window in order to rescue Joy and Sadness who have just been hurled splat against it from the outside.)  Joy (Poehler), the leader of the group instinctively learns how to deal with Sadness (Smith), which I recognized as what a therapist will do with someone who is depressed (e.g., unfailing encouragement, patience, and positive reinforcement for every successive approximation toward self-confidence and effectiveness).  Joy also discovers the value of sympathy in comforting someone who has experienced a loss, as when Sadness listens empathically to Bing Bong’s (Kind) woes and he begins to feel much better.  Upshot:  Joy is not always the answer to an emotional problem.

           I am impressed that Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen, directors, came up with the basic idea of having actors voice the emotions that a little girl goes through from the time of her birth.  Like an ego with executive functions, “central station” (the embodied emotions) does what it can to orchestrate the goings-on inside Riley’s (Dias) head, modifying Riley’s reactions and experience to maintain balance.  An important memory bank is kept to pull out those that might be helpful in a specific situation, and more complex “personality islands”—like “Family” are also available.

           This is a high tension film, and I was a bit weary by the end with all the close calls and constant urgency to rescue Riley, who has been traumatized by a move from the home she had always known to one that is so different and strange.  Her parents (Diane Lane, Kyla McLachlan) are understanding, but overlook the fact that she is having a difficult time adjusting.  Understandable, in that the father’s business is high stress, and the mother has to accommodate to a much smaller house (Minnesota to San Francisco) and different ethos altogether, like broccoli pizza! 

           I am curious about how much of the principles of this film get through to children and how much they are simply reacting to the colorful characters and animation.  There was applause at the end of the screening I attended, but there was also a lot of restlessness, noise, and babies crying while the film was running.  Presumably, it will appeal more to those older than seven or eight; I would guess that children younger than that will lose interest because so much of the film rests on the dialog, which is more about abstract concepts.

A fascinating trip inside the brain of a child.

Grade:  A                    By Donna R. Copeland