Inside Out Review
RYAN: It’s the new Disney-Pixar film, made in 3D, and it’s all about the different emotions inside a little girl’s head. This film is genius; so fantastic and so good and I loved it so much that I literally forgot that I had to review it. I began to forget the mental notes I usually take during a movie. But It’s absolutely delightful.
CHUCK: The good buzz surrounding this movie has almost been around since it premiered at Cannes and it deserves every little bit of it. It’s a bold and daringly strong, deep piece that you wouldn’t expect from the house of mouse. Pixar has definitely been known for deep things and there are sincere ideas running through there but Inside Out tops everything they’ve done previously.
RYAN: It’s such a strong concept and so brilliantly executed. The script is phenomenal; the story details are so smart and interesting – just brilliant to come up with this story! I’m so impressed by the creators and writers of this film [directed by Pete Docter, produced by Jonas Rivera, written by Pete Docter, Meg LaFauve and Josh Cooley].
CHUCK: And as we’ve come to expect from Pixar, the level of animation goes above and beyond anything they’ve done before. The subtle, minute details of the characters are very cool; which are these five core emotions that we all have as humans. Joy actually looks like a synapse, these little pieces coming off of her. She was like a pixie.
RYAN: They are very creatively and ingeniously designed to actually look like the personification of those emotions. Anger having a fire top, blowing his top so to speak.
CHUCK: …disgust being almost a Valley Girl.
RYAN: The whole picture was very candy-colored and beautiful and I think everyone that saw it with us at the Movie Club loved it – young and old. The elements that will most appeal to the kids will be be enjoyed equally by adults. Of course, as adults, we’re going to get the deeper levels. We’re going to see the layers within the story. It’s quite profound.
CHUCK: Like Up or the end of Toy Story 3, some moments really cater directly to the adults in the audience. Yes, the kids will love it, but on a psychological level, there’s more going on in the story. There’s a terrific message about what happens when you grow up and what happens to your memories and emotions.
RYAN: And how emotions work together and depend on each other. And even though we don’t have this animation happening inside of our heads…
CHUCK: Or do we?
RYAN: (laughs) I never knew before this movie, that biologically, that’s what was going on in our heads. This is more educational that any biology class I ever took.
CHUCK: (laughs) I didn’t know that Lewis Black was in my head. Every time I get angry that’s what I’m going to hear.
RYAN: Or that Amy Poehler is making you smile. But you’re right, there’s so much meaning and so much happening thematically about how emotions work together and what the implications of our experiences are in our lives, shaping our personalities. I love it.
CHUCK: We don’t do spoilers so we can’t really go into details. But for an animated movie to tackle these things in such a honest way is very pragmatic, it’s emotional. And even though some of the characters may look silly, they have a purpose.
RYAN: It’s also a really great adventure. I found it very suspenseful at times, almost as suspenseful as moments in big action thrillers. And also, it’s laugh out loud funny; not only because something is hilarious, but because the ideas in the story are so intelligent that they way that the adventure unfolds, you giggle at how brilliant the script is.
CHUCK: How did they come up with it? Who came up with it? That’s a sign of brilliant filmmaking when you start saying “How did they even think of this?” It’s out of the realm of our imagination.
RYAN: The performances are good and every actor really serves the story in character. There’s not a moment where they detract from the story by making it about them or being over the top. It’s all very appropriate.
CHUCK: Absolutely. Pixar casts the best voice talent. You’ve got Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, and Phyllis Smith, a great company of actors.
RYAN: We must comment about the short film before the movie. It’s titled “Lava.” Excellent!! It’s basically a music video about a volcano and as it started, I was thinking, you know, “How is this going to make me care about a volcano?” Cut to me then holding back the tears.
CHUCK: I was bawling. To be able to, in a five minute period, to make you care so much about a volcano…
RYAN: It’s insane. That is the power of strong storytelling.
CHUCK: There are no spoken words in it, simply a beautiful Hawaiian song, written for the short by the director James Ford Murphey. As with many shorts, Pixar uses them as a way to test new techniques because they can focus on these five minutes. It’s gorgeous. Beautiful, beautiful. Just go.
RYAN: Everyone was raving! From the short to Inside Out, this is one of those movies where you walk out feeling better because it’s such a great film. It energizes you.
