Movie Review: Inside Out

Inside Out
Directed by Pete Docter, Co-director Ronaldo Del Carmen
In theatres

Where do we start with Inside Out?

Where do we start with a new film from Pete Docter?

Where do we start with a new film from Pixar?

Shall we begin with useless trivia? Lets do that.

Pixar began life as The Graphics Group, one third of the Computer Division of Lucasfilm.

In 1986, when George Lucas ran into some cash flow difficulties after his divorce, he sold the company to Steve Jobs for $10 million.

In 2006 Jobs would make a deal with Disney for $7.4 billion, a deal that resulted in Jobs being the single largest shareholder of Disney shares.

In the beginning the company was a hardware company whose sole product was the Pixar Image Computer.

To try to drive sales John Lasseter started creating short demonstration demo films.

One of those was the two minute Luxo Jr, the story of a small desk lamp.

The film was nominated for an Oscar, for Best Animated Short Film, the first CGI film nominated for an Academy Award.

And Luxo the desk lamp is still part of the company's logo.

Pete Docter, the director of Inside Out, joined Pixar at 21.

And he has one of the most impressive resumes of anyone working in film today.

Still in his 40s, he has writing credits on Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., WALL-E, Up, and Inside Out.

He directed Monsters, Inc. and Up.

I think it was Tasha Robinson, when she was with the A.V. Club, that called him "almost universally successful."

And he kinda looks like a Pixar character come to life. Really. Google him.

Weird, huh?

While you've got Google open, take a quick look at the fifteen Pixar films.

Now, quick - sort them in order, your favourites at the top, winding your way down to your least liked.

Yeah, not that easy, is it?

Just try to pick your five favourites.

Only five.

No ties.

And they don't have to be in any particular order, just your five favourites.

Leave them in the comments, if you're so inclined. We won't judge.

I'll leave my five at the bottom of this review.

So, now is when we gather around this glowing screen and talk about Inside Out, the new film from Pete Docter and Pixar.

Inside Out is the story of Riley, an 11-year-old girl and her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness.

The anthropomorphized emotions live in Headquarters, the control centre of Riley's mind.

They work the control panel, negotiating, deliberating, or shoving each other aside to take turns at the panel.

Riley's life is thrown for a loop when her dad takes a job in San Francisco and the family has to move from Minnesota to the west coast.

Things happen and it is wonderful and funny and heartbreaking.

That is essentially the plot.

The problem with any plot synopsis, however, is the stuff that has to be left out for the sake of brevity.

Inside Out is, at its core, the bravest film that Pixar has made yet.

A lot of Pixar's films have touched on the end of childhood.

Up, the Toy Story series, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo - they all dealt with the end of childhood, but they all softened the blow.

An example: Nemo’s dad tells him to “go have an adventure”, but then whispers “goodbye, son” after Nemo leaves.

For any adults watching, the moment is killer, we’re done.

We can blame it on allergies, on dust, on the cat, but honestly, that moment is a punch in the gut.

The kids look at us askew, wondering what’s up. But we know.

Childhood is ending soon for Nemo, his dad has accepted this, even if Nemo isn’t aware of it.

Or Toy Story 3.

By the end of the trilogy Andy has said goodbye to his childhood, he is becoming the adult he will be.

When he hands Woody over to Bonnie, he is saying goodbye forever to his childhood.

My point here, if I can find it, is that childhood’s end is a common theme for Pixar.

Where Inside Out stands out from the rest of the pack is the way it takes that theme and handles it with more maturity than has been seen in any popcorn film since, well, ever.

Ever?

Ever.

This is the only film I can think of that is aimed at families that says “childhood is going to end and it’s going to suck and hurt but that’s okay because everyone has gone through it.”

I’ve never seen a mainstream film handle intimate aspects of life, of aging, of acceptance with so much class.

This film handles depression with so much respect and tenderness and acceptance that some in the audience could miss it.

There is never an exposition dump, the filmmakers never take the audience by the hand to guide us through their plot.

The filmmakers take our hands with respect and trust and let us find our way.

The symbols and metaphors and everything are there on the screen, to dwell on for days afterwards. Maybe for years afterwards.

Inside Out is, really, honestly and truly, without exaggeration or hyperbole, a masterpiece, a work of art.

If there is a pantheon of film, it will be in there waiting for us to return to it and pull it down and watch it and be punched in the gut all over again and destroyed all over again and cry until we laugh and laugh until we cry.

Again and again.

Inside Out is also, really and truly and honestly, pee your pants funny.

Sore ribs funny.

Between Anger’s eagerness to use curse words he just learned and Disgust’s reaction to broccoli, or the dad’s emotions trying to interpret what the mother is trying to say with her eyes or the cat or the imaginary boyfriend, Inside Out is one very, very, very, funny film.

So, Kellie, is Inside Out worth your time and your money?

Yes. Very much yes.

I will shout it from mountaintops.

Yes, spend your money on this film, see it in a theatre, see it with strangers and family and friends.

I can’t recommend Inside Out enough.

Every frame of this movie is art, every gag is hilarious and there are gags for the kids and for the adults and for the parents and for the teens.

Be warned though.

You will be gut punched and destroyed a few times, this movie will play with your emotions like one of those bands that you just love with all the love you can find.

And this is where we take a look at my five favourite Pixar films, in no particular order.

Try not to judge too harshly.

I won’t judge your list. Much.

Anyway, in no particular order:

    •    Inside Out - Bet you didn’t see that one coming
    •    Up - First time I watched it was flying over the Atlantic, from Europe to Toronto. Tried to hide that I was bawling like a heartbroken 15-year old, looked up to see a couple hundred other people doing the same thing.
    •    Finding Nemo - Thrilling, moving. And pee your pants funny. “Mine!” still cracks me up 12 years later.
    •    The Incredibles - The only perfect superhero movie? The only perfect superhero movie.
    •    WALL-E - Another perfect film? Yep. Another perfect film.

Honourable mentions: The Toy Story movies, a complete story told over 15 years and three movies with not one weak moment. And Ratatouille, a mainstream art film that never, ever should have worked. I mean, I thought it was a joke when I first heard about it. Patton Oswalt voices a rat who is a chef? Wha?

So, yeah, leave your list below.

Thanks in advance.