Runtime: 1 hours, 34 minutes
Rating: PG
Directors: Pete Docter, Ronaldo Del Carmen
Quick Impressions:
Pixar does excellent work, but perhaps because I’m now so pregnant I look like Violet Beauregarde (immediately pre-juicing) from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, I haven’t been all that excited about Inside Out.
I’ll be honest. With my history, I never thought my son would make it to 36 weeks (and over seven pounds!) still on the inside. I thought by now he’d be out, depriving me of the opportunity of easily seeing this film in the theater. So maybe that’s why I didn’t let myself get excited or invested in any way.
The other factor, of course, is that while Pixar somehow managed to crank out uniformly excellent films for nearly a decade, they’ve been in a (relative) slump recently, producing work that is still charming but a far cry from the near flawless features of their glory days.
Until now.
To be blunt, Inside Out is a return to form for Pixar. On the way home from the theater, my husband announced that it has become his new favorite Pixar release. That’s high praise. I mean, this is Pixar we’re talking about. Unlike your average studio, Pixar has produced far more hits than flops (critically, at least).
Oddly enough, when we all tried to brainstorm our top five Pixar films, my husband and I independently came up with the same top five. I refuse to commit to any order (just too hard!), but in random order, my favorites are Wall-E, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Up, and now Inside Out. I realize others would rank The Incredibles and Toy Story 3 much higher, and I like those, too. (I’m also fond of Ratatouille and even Brave and A Bug’s Life and Toy Story 2. And when you visit Disney’s California Adventure, you realize that the theme park potential of the Cars films raises their cinematic value considerably.) But for me, the five I listed are the ones that resonate most. (Closer examination reveals that I, in fact, prefer Pixar films directed by Pete Docter or Andrew Stanton.)
Honestly Inside Out is just awesome. It’s the best film I never saw coming. And I’ve got to say, I’m so relieved. I’ve loved movies for years, and maybe because I usually go out of my way to find the best ones to see in the theater, I always dismiss the persistent, relentless, omnipresent arguments that Hollywood is dying and movies are no good anymore, and TV is having a Renaissance while film is going the way of the dinosaur.
I always roll my eyes and think, That’s not true. There are plenty of great movies out there. You’re just not taking the trouble to find them.
But recently even I have gotten a little nervous. This past awards season was pretty lackluster (in my opinion, at least). With some distance, I’d say the only films that came out of the Oscar race that I actually loved were Whiplash, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and possibly Birdman. (I’ll grant that Boyhood is unique and that The Imitation Game was well made and that both American Sniper and Selma had a lot of passion and some great moments.) But overall, um…hmm….
Several times this year, I’ve thought in a mix of relief and disappointment, Wow, if I had to miss a summer of movies because of having a baby, I sure got lucky with the timing. To me, this summer’s lineup has seemed conspicuously weak, and recently I’ve seen a lot of blockbusters that disturbingly seem to affirm the (very prevalent) idea that Hollywood (losing money to piracy and home theater) refuses to take a risk on anything of quality and no longer cares about entertainment, just packing the house and making a profit.
I never wanted to believe all these prophesies of cinematic doom were true, and now thanks to Inside Out, I don’t have to. (Cue huge sigh of relief!) This is probably the best movie I’ve seen in the theater in the past two years, and I’m happy to report that it restored my faith in the state of contemporary cinema. I thought, Wow, so some people really are still trying to make good movies (because you don’t make a film of this quality as a happy accident). And not just small, struggling, independent filmmakers are aiming for quality, but big, commercially successful outfits like Disney/Pixar.
I’m glad now that I was brave enough to go see Inside Out in the theater. Leading up to its release, I was so torn. On the one hand, early word has been great and this weekend would be our last chance for a while to go to the movies together as a family of four. On the other hand, I didn’t want to contract some rare disease at the theater, or get pushed from the top row to my death, or something unforeseeable like that. (Unless something catastrophic happens in the meantime, the fifth member of our family will be arriving by c-section very early Wednesday morning.) Fortunately, though, nothing went wrong, and the movie was superb. All four of us loved it, and all four of us shed buckets and buckets of tears as we watched.
The Good:
Not only is Inside Out a superb film, but our screening started out strong with a great preview package (a relief after the dull, disappointing coming attractions teased before Jurassic World) and then one of those reliably excellent Pixar short features.
The short this time—“Lava”—is pretty simple and very mellow, but both our kids remarked afterwards on how much they loved it. In fact, as it was ending, my daughter leaned over and gave me a hug, whisper singing, “I lava you!” So that was a definite hit with her.
The movie on the other hand…
If my six-year-old was terrified by Jurassic World (and she was), her reaction to that was nothing compared to the way she viewed Inside Out. In Jurassic World, she spent the whole time slouched down into her seat, looking up with wide, frightened eyes. This time, she must have spent at least seventy-five percent of the movie with her blanket completely covering her head.
Yes, my daughter loves Nosferatu and Gremlins and The Twilight Zone and was not scared by Poltergeist (the original), but interpersonal conflict makes her cringe and look away in horror.
At one point, the story got so intense for her that she turned to me and whispered earnestly, “I do not like this movie. I will not watch any more of this. I want to go home.”
Predictably, of course, after the end credits rolled, she rhapsodized for nearly twenty minutes about how much she loved the film, how great it was, and how it is now one of her favorites.
Last night I asked her, “What did you like better—Inside Out or Jurassic World?”
She replied, “I would have to go with Inside Out because it was more emotional, and to me, a movie should be a little bit emotional and have that level. Jurassic World was great, but it was just like”—shrug—“dinosaurs.”
Understandably suspicious (given her behavior in the theater), her brother suggested, “You should tell us how you really feel and not just say what you think we want you to tell us.”
Outraged, she replied, “That is how I really feel! How dare you tell me how I feel!”
When I asked her favorite part, she immediately replied, “I just loved it when Disgust tricked Anger at the end, so that [spoilers withheld.]”
Her brother, on the other hand, decided he couldn’t name just one favorite part. He loved the film, though. He kept saying, “It was a great movie. It’s just too hard to single out any one scene.”
One of the best things about Inside Out is its ability to entertain while presenting a deep and thoughtful message. It’s simultaneously whimsical, emotional, and cerebral. Both my husband and I noted that the filmmakers thank a couple of psychologists at the end of the credits. You can definitely tell that someone with an understanding of child psychology influenced the script. (The insight and humor reminds me a lot of early episodes of Sesame Street, which was also influenced by child psychologists and early education specialists.)
Snobby types who savor stuff that’s highbrow and pointedly intellectual should find plenty to love in this film. But it’s just as much a delight for little kids, nostalgic parents, and people with flash tempers that flare when they hear that stupid jingle for Triplemint Gum again!
One thing that both my husband and my stepson remarked on was the thought-provoking, expert use of the emotion Disgust. Witheringly voiced by Mindy Kaling, Disgust was a big favorite in our family. The character is funny and looks great, but what so impressed my husband is the way she’s used. He and I talked about it for some time last night and agreed that we hadn’t really considered Disgust a core emotion before seeing the film. I personally had never thought about how essential Disgust (as portrayed in this film) is to a healthy concept of autonomy. That the impulse that keeps a toddler from eating broccoli comes from the same place that makes an adolescent roll her eyes is not immediately obvious (or at least not something I’ve ever pondered very deeply before seeing Inside Out). The psychology seems pretty spot on, genuinely insightful, and presented with a deft hand.
The basic message at the movie’s core—the evolving relationship between Joy and Sadness, Joy’s increasing awareness of the purpose of Sadness—is really easy to “get” even for young children, but is presented in an artful, charming way. (I hate it when movies give us a pedantic lecture or misunderstand the art of metaphor and just beat the audience over the head with a message in a completely artless, aggravating way.)
Sadness (impeccably voiced by Phyllis Smith) practically steals the show as far as I’m concerned. (Don’t get me wrong, Amy Poehler is fantastic as Joy, a bubbly, effervescent, lovable protagonist who brings her sense of limitless energy to the film and keeps us all moving forward in a positive, enjoyable way.) But as Sadness, Smith gets practically all the best lines and delivers them so well. The interplay between Sadness and Joy is definitely the driving force of the film.
The other three core emotions are also incredibly charming. I love Bill Hader in anything (and after seeing the movie, I’m pretty convinced that he’s the one running my entire brain almost 24/7). I’ve already said how we loved Disgust. And Lewis Black’s Anger is so hilarious and awesome, particularly the way his flare ups of rage are represented visually. This always drew big laughs from the audience, like every single time he lost control.
The rest of the cast is great, too. I particularly liked Diane Lane as Riley’s mom (even though I didn’t realize it was Diane Lane at the time). Then there’s Richard Kind as Bing Bong. Initially, I found this character a bit grating, but gradually I began to like the storyline he was enabling, and his final scene will have you weeping on the floor like you’ve lost all ability to do anything else. (Seriously, I haven’t done so much shameless keening since I appeared as one of the (lesser) Trojan Women in high school.)
What Made Me Laugh the Hardest:
Even though most people seem to be talking about all the crying you’ll do, Inside Out is actually a pretty funny movie. Sadness has one line relatively early on that actually made me laugh out loud. My husband laughed, too. I think we were the only people who did. To my surprise, I chuckled aloud several times during this movie. Normally when it comes to movies, I cry at the drop of a hat, but I don’t necessarily laugh. (I’m more of a smiler.)
Probably the best running joke of the movie is the bit with Anger and his reaction to the endless iterations of the “Triplemint Gum” song. (Oddly enough, I kept singing it on the ride home, which must have really annoyed everyone else because we only ever hear one line—“Triplemint Gum!”—so it’s not like an actual song. But I really related to this joke. What makes it funny is the way Anger is animated. The sight gag is much funnier than the underlying joke. Still it’s easy to identify with the joke, too. Lately my daughter has been obsessed with Fantastic Mr. Fox, and the music from the fight scene with Willem Dafoe’s rat seems to run through my mind about twenty times every single day.)
What Made Me Cry the Hardest:
I don’t think the audience is intended to cry when Riley’s mother thanks her for staying positive through the move, but this scene apparently tapped into unresolved childhood trauma for me.
When I was a kid, we moved a lot. A lot. I had lived in five states by the time I was in second grade. In thirteen years, I went to thirteen schools. I did not like it. I’m pathologically shy and so dependent on routine that when I “joke” about having OCD, my family is all like, “Hahahaha…please never stop taking medication because you frighten us.”
I still have nightmares to this day that my parents have somehow sold our house (even though my husband and I own it) and now we have to move. Seriously, I had one the night before we saw the movie.
The six elementary schools thing wasn’t so bad, but parents, let me give you some advice. Perhaps you’re wondering, “How often should I reasonably expect my children to adapt to a new location?” Let me just say, four middle schools and three high schools is far too many. So try to stop somewhere short of that if you possibly can. When I was in junior high, we actually lived in three different cities (Corpus Christi area to Chattanooga area to Dallas area) in one calendar year, and never ever was a consecutive move between places that were remotely culturally similar.
So moving is traumatic to me. And that scene between Riley and her mom…That is exactly how my mother always played it. She was uncannily good at knowing how to get my sister and me to behave. To her credit, the two of us were the most well behaved children ever. We got invited everywhere when all other children were pointedly excluded and earned her almost nonstop accolades of praise when we were out in public.
But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten a similar speech. “Thank you for not having the feelings that you currently have but haven’t figured out how to reveal to me. Your father is under a lot of stress. His job is on the line. We’re going to the place where your father works. He has just started a new job. How you behave yourself reflects on him. Thank you for always behaving well.”
It’s extremely hard to express your true feelings of anguish when someone is so kindly thanking you for not having them.
I did not expect this scene to make me cry, but raw, ugly tears just started pouring out of my eyes out of nowhere. Most people probably won’t cry at this scene, but trust me, you’ll likely start crying at some other scene, something that particularly resonates with you the way this scene resonated with me. It’s great because the movie provokes genuine emotion. It doesn’t just find cheap, manipulative ways to steal your tears.
Best Action Sequence:
That said, you’re probably going to cry when Joy makes her escape in the rocket. Like everyone in the theater was crying at this point, and here the movie is slightly manipulative, but at that point it had won me over, so I really didn’t mind.
Tears were streaming down my cheeks when my daughter looked up at me for solace. Her eyes were over-brimming and her mouth was pulled down into what looked almost like a cartoon frown (entirely sincere, though). She was just completely emotionally destroyed.
I hope she’s not more upset that I’m crying, too, I thought, and then I happened to glance past her at her twelve-year-old brother, and I saw the tears falling from his eyes, as well.
I guess everybody’s crying! I decided.
When I related this in the car, he told me with a nod, “Yeah, when I started crying, I looked over, and Dad was crying, too.”
Best Scene Visually:
Without a doubt the most exciting and innovative part visually is the scene in the abstract thinking chamber. The animators must have gotten such a kick out of working on that. This segment actually reminded me of some of the more experimental sequences animated by Disney back when Walt Disney was still alive. It’s high concept and yet incredibly silly at the same time.
Best Scene:
I’m with my stepson on this one. There are simply too many excellent scenes to choose from. Just as humans function best when all their emotions work in tandem, Inside Out functions best as a whole.
I was going to say, “Clearly a lot of work went into this film,” but that’s inane and kind of insulting to other movies that don’t turn out as well. Surely lots of work goes into every film.
But the screenplay for this movie is excellent and so thoughtful. And the voice actors also do a great job across the board bringing the characters to life.
One of my favorite scenes is Riley’s breakdown at the dinner table. The rapidly escalating conflict between Riley and her father reminds me fondly of similar moments with my own father. (This seems like an odd thing to think fondly of, but we both have hair trigger tempers and then get sorry almost immediately.)
Actually one of the best things about this movie is the way that it presents all emotions as healthy, normal, and vital to human function. Joy is obviously the most delightful emotion, but Anger, Disgust, Fear, and Sadness are not bad guys. They’re all doing their best to help Riley function, too, and she needs every single one of them. The real problem comes when she loses the ability to tap into her emotions and core memories, a state rather like depression (or maybe shock).
With that in mind, I suppose the best scene is probably the moment when Joy reviews a certain core memory from Sadness’s point of view and comes to a more mature understanding of the role of Sadness in the human psyche.
The Negatives:
I suppose I could say here that young children might be distressed by the emotional turmoil in this movie, but I don’t even believe that myself. (I mean, young children might be distressed by just about anything, so the key here is to know your child.)
I think that distress over the interpersonal conflict is an issue particular to my child, the weird little girl who is listening with relish to Roald Dahl’s The Witches, but puts her blanket over her head and can’t stand to watch when friends have a falling out, a child disappoints her parents, or anybody feels emotionally uncomfortable in any way whatsoever.
Honestly, I think the strengths of this film are so conspicuous and abundant that they outweigh any petty problems. Obviously since some sequences seem really bold and original and innovative, others are going to seem less bold and original and innovative by comparison. Not every joke gets a huge laugh. (The Chinatown reference is kind of weak in my opinion.) Not every “sad moment” makes everybody in the audience cry.
But the movie is so excellent that I don’t think any of its small, debatable weaknesses are even noteworthy.
The Bing Bong character is weirdly off-putting and yet appealing simultaneously. There are things I don’t like about the character. (For one thing, he’s a conspicuously convenient plot device.) But Richard Kind does a marvelous job voicing him, and in the end, the emotional payoff is big, and Joy and Sadness have to do something while they’re trying to make their way back to the control room.
Reaching (because I feel I ought to offer some kind of constructive criticism), I might point out that Pixar is known to have a dearth of female protagonists in its films (which are usually very male oriented). The studio is obviously overcorrecting very self-consciously with this film. This movie is about a little girl, so of course, this is the one about feelings because little girls have all the feelings, and the lead is Amy Poehler (rather well known—to everyone but Taylor Swift, apparently—as the cheerful feminist champion of empowering and affirming young girls). I guess if you felt like it, you could get slightly offended by the film being so brazenly what it is. Pixar appeals to girls now, get it? And we all know that girls have all the feelings.
(If you want to get offended, the film’s characterization of the internal workings of its masculine characters leaves a little something to be desired. Usually in Pixar movies, we get a central male character, lots of supporting male characters, and very few girls. Here there are very few males, and instead of getting genuine insight into their emotional make-up, the peeks inside their heads are presented more as jokes. If you enjoy taking offense, you could rightly point out that this film at moments does seem to suggest that women, girls, and dogs are more properly emotionally balanced while men are often clueless, boys are short-circuited by anything female, and cats are completely insane. But be honest. If you’re considering pitching a fit about that, you like pitching fits, don’t you? That’s the payoff of watching a movie for you, right, getting to complain about it?)
I did find it kind of fascinating/perplexing that Riley’s mom has an all female control panel, and Riley’s dad has an all male control panel, but Riley (as a mix of her parents) has some male emotions that resemble her father’s feelings and some female emotions that resemble her mother’s. That makes sense in a way, but also makes you wonder why her parents (who presumably had parents themselves) each have feelings of only one gender. (Then again maybe I’m wrong and misidentified some emotions who were actually male as female and vice versa.) (It’s really too small a data set to draw any conclusions about how the genders of metaphorical emotions work.)
But, see, these are small, inconsequential quibbles. There’s really nothing wrong with this movie. Some people won’t like it, but that’s human beings for you. I think it’s pretty brilliant and definitely entertaining to a broad audience. As I said, my husband now ranks it first among Pixar films, and our twelve-year-old son and six-year-old daughter have both praised it highly and expressed a desire to see it again.
I guess a potential negative is that it might scare your kids. This movie is quite resourceful when it comes to working within PG limits to find stuff that is genuinely funny/disgusting/harrowing/scary. That clown may be totally PG, but there’s something horrifying about him, nonetheless, especially if you have a thing about clowns. (This is a disingenuous complaint, too, though. I am actually terribly impressed by how well Inside Out remains appropriate for children and yet finds ways to scare, upset, and amuse them in earnest.)
Overall:
I’m not kidding when I say this is probably the best film I’ve seen in theater in the past two years. That’s pretty high praise when you consider how many movies I see in the theater and that I go out of my way to watch all potential Oscar contenders. I have no way of knowing if you’ll like Inside Out, of course, but my entire family loved it and not just because it was fun. Lots of movies are fun. What sets this one apart is that it’s fun to watch and at the same time refreshingly thoughtful, well written, and expertly executed. What else is there to say? Inside Out is a fantastic film. Take your kids. (But if they don’t like it, don’t blame me. Kids these days have an awful lot of feelings, you know?)