Pixar’s latest has earned rave reviews, and it’s easy to see why. Not much more can be said about this movie that hasn’t already been said, but I’ll try anyway…
What Works: Special kudos to the writer who came up with the idea to set a movie mostly inside the mind of a kid growing up, but whereas another animated comedy might have gone for slapstick (I shudder to think how limited a movie Fox Animation might have turned this premise into) “Inside Out” is trying to make one of the most honest and literal movies ever made about what it means to grow up, and the sadness that can come with that. It’s at once deeply personal but also entirely universal, and a lot of it is more subtle than the average live action comedy being released these days.
Questions like “Can there be true happiness without a little sadness mixed in?” Or “What if Joy doesn’t win out? What happens if a happy life just doesn’t bounce back once it turns sad?” Or “Does nostalgia keep us from remembering things clearly?” Aren’t ones you expect a movie aimed squarely at kids to be asking, and although most animated films flirt with the idea of things not working out (they have to for plot purposes) this may be the first one I’ve seen about actual depression. Even though the movie may sound depressing, it’s not at all and the entire point is saying that trying to deny sadness all the time may ultimately make you more unhappy, and even the best memories may make you feel blue that they’ll never happen again (or be distorted from nostalgia into something better than they were)…and that’s okay.
What Doesn’t: Will small kids like this movie as much as their parents do? Doubtful, but maybe that’s okay too.
What I Would Have Done Differently: I would have reviewed this movie weeks ago, not like people are exactly unaware of it though.