INSIDE OUT – The Review

Pixar has taken viewers on an array of journeys since 1995. They have introduced us to fantastical worlds where toys can talk, robots fall in love, and a mouse can be the most talented chef in Paris. Their knack for creating heartfelt and creative animated films that appeal to kids and adults alike seems to know no bounds. And yet it quickly becomes apparent in the opening minutes of INSIDE OUT that Pixar has reached new imaginative heights.

Talking animals or fairy tale princesses are constantly shown in animated films. So the idea alone of your internal feelings existing as characters in your head makes INSIDE OUT worth applauding. Add the fact that directors Pete Docter and Ronaldo del Carmen take the idea of these characters and have them explore the depths of a child’s mind setups a film that is filled with an endless array of opportunities. Most importantly, it lets them discuss the ins and outs of what makes our emotions go up and down. If this sounds a little heavy for younger children, I would say you are probably right. INSIDE OUT represents Pixar at its most ambitious – challenging kids to question ideas that are much bigger than they are.

Riley (voiced by Kaitlyn Dias) is dealing with a major problem. Her family is moving from Minneapolis to San Francisco. The adjustment to her new school, new friends, a new house, and a new hockey team isn’t going so well. It’s even harder for her five personified emotions: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. During the chaos of settling in to her new home, Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) accidentally get lost in the deep reaches of Riley’s mind and are stranded far from where they work at headquarters. Riley’s emotional state is soon thrown completely out of whack and it won’t be set right until Joy can stay positive and get the two of them back home.

Joy’s journey is what is at the heart of the film. Occasionally there are cuts to show Riley in the physical world, but the other humans and their interactions aren’t as important to the directing duo. They choose to stay with Riley’s feelings and even avoid showing the internal feelings of other characters, except during a great dinner table scene shown in the previews, and then later on during the closing credits (which had me laughing louder than any other moment in the film). I understand that the main plot has to do with Riley’s internal struggle, but considering how effective these scenes played with the audience I saw it with, I think including more instances of this would have provided some much-needed levity at times.

Slightly older kids might find the film more enlightening than others. This hasn’t been the case as much with Pixar in the past. Sure, they always have adult jokes or themes that fly over the heads of youngsters, but when you structure a large chunk of your film showing a character visiting areas of the brain like forgotten memories, abstract thought, and dream reality, you are heading into territory that is more complex than Dory’s underwater journey to find Nemo.

This journey motif is both a blessing and a curse. I for one appreciated the clever pit stops that Joy and Sadness have to make. However the structure of having to get back home is one that Pixar seems to rely on film after film. Aside from just FINDING NEMO as previously mentioned, you have TOY STORY, where Woody and Buzz lead the motley crew back to Andy’s house; in UP Carl and Russell journey to South America; in CARS you have McQueen trying to make it to California. Having seen this setup so many times from Pixar, there’s a sense of familiarity to the proceedings that holds back the film from really soaring.

What additionally contributes to the predictability of the film are the characters themselves. Given that they are named Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust, you can usually expect how they are each going to react at any given moment. I love having well-rounded characters and getting to know a person based on how they act in certain situations. With INSIDE OUT, the personified emotions go beyond just wearing their heart (or any of their other obvious traits) on their sleeve.

Whether it was intentional or not, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the work of author Philip K. Dick while thinking about the film in the days that followed my screening. His work often touched upon the idea of personal identity and fabricated “reality.” These themes can certainly be applied to the subconscious feeling world in a battle of sorts with the “real” world Riley’s physical state is journeying through. Taking it one step further, an argument could be made that the feelings in headquarters in Riley’s mind stand for the larger authoritarian government that are slowly directing us in ways we may not even know – “the invisible hand” as it is often referred to. These are all ideas Philip K. Dick structured some of his most popular non-fiction around, but given all the talk in our society today of our personal freedoms being attacked and government surveillance in order to maintain our country’s safety, is it really too much of a stretch to say that Pixar carefully imparted these ideas into a brainy animated film?

INSIDE OUT is not the best Pixar film they have ever made but it certainly gets them back on their successful track after the past couple of misses they have fired. It’s a film that many will appreciate, but I doubt many will initially love. The indelible characters and memorable scenes we’ve seen in previous Pixar films are missing and in their place is an attempt at tackling issues of love, fear, and regret. Complex and occasionally challenging, INSIDE OUT may not leave an obvious mark on young viewers, but that’s not to say that years from now they won’t better appreciate the film and look more fondly on the memory of witnessing this cinematic journey.

Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5

INSIDE OUT is now playing in theaters everywhere