[Movie Review] Inside Out (2015)

Posted on June 19, 2015 by thegrandshuckett in Movie Reviews // 0 Comments

Directors: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen

Writers: Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley

Runtime: 102 min

Main Cast:

Diane Lane as Mom (voice)
Kyle MacLachlan as Dad (voice)
Amy Poehler as Joy (voice)
Mindy Kaling as Disgust (voice)
Bill Hader as Fear (voice)
Richard Kind as Bing Bong (voice)
Phyllis Smith as Sadness (voice)
Lewis Black as Anger (voice)

Review: Faith & Marie

We were eagerly looking forward to this movie. New Pixar movies are always an exciting thing for us, especially since we both have young children. Every now and then, Pixar/Disney comes out with a movie that adults can also enjoy on a different and deeper level. Now, with this latest film, Inside Out, they have taken that approach a step further. They have made a movie that is so smart and psychologically clever, it may leave little ones scratching their heads wondering why their parents are laughing so hard and so into the movie. It’s the first movie that seems like it is marketed for kids but is in actuality made for grown-up’s.

Directed by Pete Docter, the maestro behind Monster’s Inc. and Up; Inside Out takes place inside the mind of a little girl named Riley (voiced by Kaitlyn Dias). Riley’s mind is monitored/controlled by five emotions taking up residence inside her mind, like a Mission Controlled Headquarters that looks like a candy-colored version of Star Trek’s Enterprise Bridge. Joy (a bubbly blue-haired pixie voiced by Amy Poehler) is the first we meet just after Riley’s birth in Minnesota. Shortly following were Sadness (The Office’s Phyllis Smith, who frumps and frowns like Debbie Downer—wah-wah—and almost steals the show), Fear (Bill Hader, a high-strung purple beanpole), Anger (Lewis Black, perpetually on the brink of blowing his red top) and Disgust (an eye-rolling sarcastic Mindy Kaling). Joy realizes that each emotion plays some type of role in protecting Riley in her everyday life, all except Sadness. Joy couldn’t figure out what good Sadness did, so she did her best to keep sadness busy doing other things, like reading mind manuals. The emotions govern Riley’s life by helping her to create memories. All memories have their own individual orb which gets stored away in Riley’s long term memory bank. Every so often a very special memory is made, a core memory, which is responsible for forming a part of Riley’s personality. As a child most of Riley’s memory orbs are golden, the color of Joy. But as she grows up, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness start to creep in, never as much until now eleven year old Riley is forced to relocate to run-down urban San Francisco, without her friends or her beloved hockey. And when Joy and Sadness get stranded in Riley’s long-term memory vault after her traumatic first day at her new school, the girl basically shuts down with just Fear, Disgust and Anger at the controls. In other words, Riley becomes a cranky adolescent; and Joy is determined to make her smile again.

What We Liked:

What we were into the most is that the film is even more remarkable for how it presents depression: so subtly but unmistakably that it never has to label it as depression. Riley is obviously depressed, and has good reason to be. The abyss where her core memories have accidentally been dumped is also a representation of depression as an abyss.

True to life, Riley stays in her personal abyss until she’s ready to climb out of it. There’s no magic cure that will make the pain go away. She just has to be patient, and feel loved. This definitely speaks to true and real life emotions. We have been told before that we have no control over our emotions, only over what we choose to do about them, and that even if we know this, it can still be hard to make good decisions, because our feelings are so powerful, and there are so many of them fighting to be heard.

“Inside Out” gets this. It avoids the sorts of maddening, self-serving, binary statements that kids always hate hearing their parents spout: Things aren’t so bad. You can decide to be happy. Look on the bright side. Even as we root for Riley to find a way out of her despair, we’re never encouraged to think that she’s just being childish, or that she wouldn’t be taking everything so seriously if she were older. We feel for her, and with her.

What We Didn’t Like:

There really was not anything to dislike about Inside Out except it seemed unnecessary that the movie was in 3D. Like previous Pixar movies, Inside Out is playing in 3D and premium ticket price will be worthwhile for most viewers, unless you are one who does not like 3D.

Taking a page from his work on Up, Docter utilizes the format for depth rather than pop-out effects. For that reason, 3D might not be a requirement for thrifty filmgoers, especially those who are already on the fence about an Inside Out ticket, but 3D does add immersion to the film’s striking set-pieces – especially the fantasy scenes inside Riley’s mind.

Summary

Pixar has never been so formally and visually inventive and rarely so funny as they are here. Inside Out is exceptionally good and gives a thoughtful look at developing and understanding our feelings. It’s also a lot of fun to watch. With a new set of colorful characters for young viewers to enjoy, while also exploring one of mankind’s greatest mysteries: the mind. Delving into psychology theory, Docter injects entertaining but equally sophisticated insight into how emotions influence behavior – insight that affords Inside Out‘s audience a chance for self-discovery and reflection, regardless of age.

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