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MOVIE REVIEW: INSIDE OUT

| 30 July 2015 | Reply

MOVIE REVIEW: INSIDE OUT
Directed by Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen
Starring Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
9 ½ /10

Inside Out movie poster

Disney have crafted a near-perfect future classic in this animated tale of how our emotions rule our personalities.

Taking surprisingly complex and sophisticated concepts an translating them into what is ostensibly a movie for the whole family, whilst crucially not dumbing the subject matter down, is a rare feat indeed.

Inside Out follows Riley Henderson, a happy twelve-year-old who moves with her parents from her dreamily joyous childhood home in Minnesota to a much smaller inner-city place in San Francisco.

The emotions that run her mind – Joy (Poehler), Sadness (Smith), Fear (Hader), Anger (Black) and Disgust (Kaling) – have a hard time of it when things in her new home don’t go according to plan.

A series of events leads Joy and Sadness away from Riley’s mind’s HQ, meaning those emotions no longer guide her, and Riley’s world starts to collapse in on itself, with only negative emotions left controlling her moods.

Animated as wonderfully as anything Disney have released, Inside Out shows us that as much as we all want Joy in our lives, we need Sadness especially, to put the happy times in perspective. We need Anger and Fear and Disgust as well, as long as they are balanced, to keep us aware of a sense of right and wrong, and of finding our rightful place in society.

Directors Docter and Del Carmen ensure the pacing is spot-on, there are laughs galore and a couple of tears to shed, while the message is never spelt out too obviously, and never laid on too thick. As mentioned above, it’s as near-perfect an animated film as we’ve seen, and when your eight year old talks excitedly about it with total clarity and comprehension for hours after her tears have dried up, you know it’s a winner.

Oh – the movie is also preceded by a wonderful little short film about two volcanos falling in love, which is perfect for all the hopeless – and hopeful – romantics amongst us.

Category: Movie & Theatre Reviews

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