Inside Out - directed by Pete Docter & Ronaldo Del Carmen
Starring: Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Katie McGrath, Mindy Kaling, Richard Kind, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Lane, Lewis Black, Frank Oz, Phyllis Smith, John Ratzenberger, Rashida Jones
Running Time: 102 minutes
Rated: PG - It's a Pixar movie!
The latest Pixar movie arrives at a time when Jurassic World has stormed the box office and a week later is thought likely to stay atop it.
This could be a bit of movie history coming up - a Pixar movie NOT opening in the number one slot for opening weekend.
I don't mean to highlight this as a slight against the animation giant - more as an indication of mild annoyance on my part.
Nothing against "Jurassic World" either - it is a good movie and a lot of fun and I love the success it is having both financial and in audience enjoyment.
What annoys me a little is that "Inside Out" is one of the best Pixar films to date and deserves a number one opening far, far more than Brave, either of the Cars movies or A Bug's Life.
"Ratatouille", "Toy Story 2" and "The Incredibles" are still the best for me in that order but "Inside Out" is so cleverly put together that it absolutely warrants a place next to them in the pecking order.
But I suspect that we can't solely blame rampaging T-Rex's and Raptors for the likely number 2 spot at the box office this weekend.
This is one of the most adult oriented Pixar movies yet - far more than it appears in trailers.
There's a very clever concept at the centre of this movie.
Our emotions are controlled by corresponding characters in our heads.
Our heads have control rooms populated with Joy, Fear, Sadness, Anger and Disgust.
At least 11 year Rileys does.
As the movie begins we meet her as a newborn and her first emotion is joy as she looks into the eyes of her adoring parents.
Less than a minute later she is joined by a second- sadness- and soon all five have arrived as the baby gets used to the world around her.
As clever as the central idea is the real genius here is in the execution.
There is an abundance of touches both large and small.
There is the idea that all of the emotions work together to keep Riley safe.
Memories are stored carefully with some going to core memory.
One of the key ideas is that one emotion can 'taint' an existing memory so that a previously happy memory can now be one tinged with sadness.
Ultimately there is a very un-Disney conclusion to this idea that seems completely at odds with the normal happy-happy smiles and joy vibe of the House of Mouse.
Supposedly real experts in human emotion were consulted at the script stage and it shows.
There is a maturity in the central theme and its execution that even as a fan of Pixar stunned me.
These are the aspects of this movie that make it far more adult in tone than any of its predecessors.
Not to say that there isn't much that will appeal to younger viewers.
Pixar is well known for their ability to bring visual punch to their films and nothing has changed in this regard with "Inside Out".
Riley's mind is far more than a control room.
It is a vast area filled with 'towns' like Goof Town, Family Town, Hockey Town and so on.
All of the key aspects of her personality that make her the girl that she is have these mind constructions.
The film shows them fire up according to what she is doing in 'real life'.
Being an 11 year old girl she is starting to experience emotions that will throw all of this into turmoil.
When her Mother and Father (great work from Diane Lane and Kyle McLachlan) move the family from Minnesota to San Francisco Riley is removed from her friends and the places that she knows and loves.
Sadness creeps to the fore.
The visual realisation of this is close to genius work from writer-director Pete Docter and his team.
Sadness the character is voiced to brilliant effect by Phyllis Smith from the US version of "The Office".
Smith has the perfect tone of voice and does standout work. She would be without a doubt the funniest character if not for one that arrives at the midway point.
More on that later.
As Riley's emotions spiral while she deals with the new town and all of its horrors (organic broccoli pizza!) joy and sadness find themselves ejected to the deep recesses of her mind.
Lost in the maze of memories in Rileys head they must navigate their way back to the control room to get Rileys core memories back where they belong and get things back on course.
The environment is rich with danger from pits where no longer required memories are dumped (names of collectable toys), corners populated with deep seated fears and a host of mechanisms for cleaning up memories and discarding unwelcome guests.
While this may seem like a plot device to add some action and adventure to keep the young uns' entertained (and it works gloriously as such) the true worth is revealed almost right at the end where the intentions of the film are revealed.
Obviously I will not be spoiling anything here but I will say that this could well be Pixar's cleverest script yet.
As much as I admire the smarts behind this film in terms of the themes explored that should in no way imply that there is a lack of fun or humour.
The voice cast is excellent to the last and I have singled out Phyllis Smith's work as Sadness but the highlight for me is clear.
Richard Kind as Bing Bong.
The fantastically named Bing Bong is the childhood friend of Riley.
Long cast to the back of her memories he appears and provides a perfectly times comedy boost.
Kind voices a character who tells us he is part cat, part elephant with a bit of dolphin.
It is a supremely goofy character that Kind nails with a pitch perfect voice performance.
I laughed at almost everything he said right up until I didn't.
Then there was something different to feel and it is every bit as memorable.
For me Ratatouille is the most emotionally charged Pixar movie but "Inside Out" gives it a run for its money.
None of the moments in this regard are cheap or shallow.
The film earns every single one and every single audience lip quiver or sniff.
"Inside Out" is superb.
It plays to the strengths of its medium - namely animation.
This story could be told to a degree as a live action film but apart from costing an absolute fortune it just wouldn't work as well.
Pixar has married theme, story and visuals in a way that should leave the biggest naysayers of animated movies without evidence to back their negativity.
Visually it packs a punch - maybe not as much as say "The Incredibles" or "Ratatouille" for me but then it has a different kind of asthetic - more surreal.
3D is not really required and honestly the bright colours here might be better served by not having the dimming affect of the 3D lenses.
There is an abundance of imagination on display even by Pixar's usual high standard and a stack of jokes just for the grownups.
(The Chinatown line is wonderful)
I have been critical of as many Pixar movies as I have loved but this one is happily and deservedly the latter.
And note that you should stay for the credits - there is some terrific stuff shown.
RATING: 85 / 100
CONCLUSION: Finely crafted and often emotionally charged this is Pixar at its best. It may be about a young girl but this one will resonate most with the parents that take their young ones to see it.
Running Time: 102 minutes
Rated: PG - It's a Pixar movie!
The latest Pixar movie arrives at a time when Jurassic World has stormed the box office and a week later is thought likely to stay atop it.
This could be a bit of movie history coming up - a Pixar movie NOT opening in the number one slot for opening weekend.
I don't mean to highlight this as a slight against the animation giant - more as an indication of mild annoyance on my part.
Nothing against "Jurassic World" either - it is a good movie and a lot of fun and I love the success it is having both financial and in audience enjoyment.
What annoys me a little is that "Inside Out" is one of the best Pixar films to date and deserves a number one opening far, far more than Brave, either of the Cars movies or A Bug's Life.
"Ratatouille", "Toy Story 2" and "The Incredibles" are still the best for me in that order but "Inside Out" is so cleverly put together that it absolutely warrants a place next to them in the pecking order.
But I suspect that we can't solely blame rampaging T-Rex's and Raptors for the likely number 2 spot at the box office this weekend.
This is one of the most adult oriented Pixar movies yet - far more than it appears in trailers.
There's a very clever concept at the centre of this movie.
Our emotions are controlled by corresponding characters in our heads.
Our heads have control rooms populated with Joy, Fear, Sadness, Anger and Disgust.
At least 11 year Rileys does.
As the movie begins we meet her as a newborn and her first emotion is joy as she looks into the eyes of her adoring parents.
 |
| Anger, Disgust. Joy, Fear and Sadness |
As clever as the central idea is the real genius here is in the execution.
There is an abundance of touches both large and small.
There is the idea that all of the emotions work together to keep Riley safe.
Memories are stored carefully with some going to core memory.
One of the key ideas is that one emotion can 'taint' an existing memory so that a previously happy memory can now be one tinged with sadness.
Ultimately there is a very un-Disney conclusion to this idea that seems completely at odds with the normal happy-happy smiles and joy vibe of the House of Mouse.
Supposedly real experts in human emotion were consulted at the script stage and it shows.
There is a maturity in the central theme and its execution that even as a fan of Pixar stunned me.
These are the aspects of this movie that make it far more adult in tone than any of its predecessors.
Not to say that there isn't much that will appeal to younger viewers.
Pixar is well known for their ability to bring visual punch to their films and nothing has changed in this regard with "Inside Out".
Riley's mind is far more than a control room.
It is a vast area filled with 'towns' like Goof Town, Family Town, Hockey Town and so on.
All of the key aspects of her personality that make her the girl that she is have these mind constructions.
The film shows them fire up according to what she is doing in 'real life'.
Being an 11 year old girl she is starting to experience emotions that will throw all of this into turmoil.
When her Mother and Father (great work from Diane Lane and Kyle McLachlan) move the family from Minnesota to San Francisco Riley is removed from her friends and the places that she knows and loves.
Sadness creeps to the fore.
 |
| The 'real' world environments are every bit as stunning as the 'in the head' stuff |
Sadness the character is voiced to brilliant effect by Phyllis Smith from the US version of "The Office".
Smith has the perfect tone of voice and does standout work. She would be without a doubt the funniest character if not for one that arrives at the midway point.
More on that later.
As Riley's emotions spiral while she deals with the new town and all of its horrors (organic broccoli pizza!) joy and sadness find themselves ejected to the deep recesses of her mind.
Lost in the maze of memories in Rileys head they must navigate their way back to the control room to get Rileys core memories back where they belong and get things back on course.
The environment is rich with danger from pits where no longer required memories are dumped (names of collectable toys), corners populated with deep seated fears and a host of mechanisms for cleaning up memories and discarding unwelcome guests.
While this may seem like a plot device to add some action and adventure to keep the young uns' entertained (and it works gloriously as such) the true worth is revealed almost right at the end where the intentions of the film are revealed.
Obviously I will not be spoiling anything here but I will say that this could well be Pixar's cleverest script yet.
As much as I admire the smarts behind this film in terms of the themes explored that should in no way imply that there is a lack of fun or humour.
The voice cast is excellent to the last and I have singled out Phyllis Smith's work as Sadness but the highlight for me is clear.
The fantastically named Bing Bong is the childhood friend of Riley.
Long cast to the back of her memories he appears and provides a perfectly times comedy boost.
Kind voices a character who tells us he is part cat, part elephant with a bit of dolphin.
It is a supremely goofy character that Kind nails with a pitch perfect voice performance.
I laughed at almost everything he said right up until I didn't.
Then there was something different to feel and it is every bit as memorable.
For me Ratatouille is the most emotionally charged Pixar movie but "Inside Out" gives it a run for its money.
None of the moments in this regard are cheap or shallow.
The film earns every single one and every single audience lip quiver or sniff.
"Inside Out" is superb.
It plays to the strengths of its medium - namely animation.
This story could be told to a degree as a live action film but apart from costing an absolute fortune it just wouldn't work as well.
Pixar has married theme, story and visuals in a way that should leave the biggest naysayers of animated movies without evidence to back their negativity.
Visually it packs a punch - maybe not as much as say "The Incredibles" or "Ratatouille" for me but then it has a different kind of asthetic - more surreal.
3D is not really required and honestly the bright colours here might be better served by not having the dimming affect of the 3D lenses.
There is an abundance of imagination on display even by Pixar's usual high standard and a stack of jokes just for the grownups.
(The Chinatown line is wonderful)
I have been critical of as many Pixar movies as I have loved but this one is happily and deservedly the latter.
And note that you should stay for the credits - there is some terrific stuff shown.
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