Inside Out
Inside Out then. Five emotions (Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust and Fear) reside in the head of 11 year old Riley, whose family have moved to San Francisco from Minnesota. Sadness causes a traumatic episode in Riley's class, creating a negative "core memory". Joy attempts to prevent the core memory but in the process, her and Sadness are transported out of "Headquarters". Ostensibly, the pair must return there before irreparable damage is caused to Riley's mental state.
I wonder if my expectations were in retrospect too high. I've read reviews that put this on a par with Pixar's best work, but I feel it lacks the depth of the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, Up and Wall-E. There's nothing intrisically wrong with the film. The casting is strong (it's difficult to imagine anyone other than acerbic comedian Lewis Black as "Anger" and Amy Poehler gives a strong nuanced performance as "Joy") and it plays with some interesting concepts, like abstract thought. But for a film about emotions, it lacks any genuine drama. The plot doesn't place Riley herself in any genuine peril, other than potentially travelling a long distance on a bus on her own.
The film's conclusion, that not only is it ok to be sad but that sadness is an inevitable and important part of life, is a strong, positive message. But the ending to me felt a little too neat and too abrupt. It's certainly worth going to see but it's some way short of the 5 star movie the critics have been raving about. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to view it a second time to see if I'd reappraise it.
I wonder if my expectations were in retrospect too high. I've read reviews that put this on a par with Pixar's best work, but I feel it lacks the depth of the Toy Story trilogy, Finding Nemo, Up and Wall-E. There's nothing intrisically wrong with the film. The casting is strong (it's difficult to imagine anyone other than acerbic comedian Lewis Black as "Anger" and Amy Poehler gives a strong nuanced performance as "Joy") and it plays with some interesting concepts, like abstract thought. But for a film about emotions, it lacks any genuine drama. The plot doesn't place Riley herself in any genuine peril, other than potentially travelling a long distance on a bus on her own.
The film's conclusion, that not only is it ok to be sad but that sadness is an inevitable and important part of life, is a strong, positive message. But the ending to me felt a little too neat and too abrupt. It's certainly worth going to see but it's some way short of the 5 star movie the critics have been raving about. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to view it a second time to see if I'd reappraise it.
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