Post 6 - 'Inside Out' - Pixar Grows Up

To begin, if you don't know what the film's about, go read the storyline blurb, on IMDB...you're gunna need some context to refer to for this review!...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2096673/

So now that you've read the blurb, what does your gut tell you about who this film is aimed at?

Kids or Adults?

You look at the first two words of the story summary "Growing up...", you look at the bright vibrant colours of the movie posters on billboards and buses that have been doing the customary rounds, you watch the 'perky', 'bouncy' trailer that Disney have put out...and what do you think?



You think this is a kids film! I did!

Well, I'm sorry to say it....I think you're wrong!

This is an adult's film, wrapped up in the sugar-coated, candy floss coverings of previous Pixar offerings such as 'Up'.

So what do I mean by this?

Well what makes Inside Out work so well is that it is a film not just about the main character's emotional journey through the film, but it is a film about her fluctuating mental emotional state. 

The film goes beyond the outside view, and situating the main action in the realms of her emotional consciousness and leaving it in the hands of Joy and the gang, the film makers are able to sensitively touch on, and show empathy with, the issues faced by a young girl who it could be said is dealing with manifest feelings of depression. And it is this relatable emotional realism, that has not been as explicitly present in Pixar's previous outings, that is the film's strength and allows it to pack some massive emotional punches along the way.

It is a strange film with regards to the rare fact that many of the lighter hearted moments of the film come from the symbiotic relationship that is created between the distinct psychological accuracy of the script and punch-lines of the written jokes. Which ultimately is where the film has been mis-sold, because jokes about (literal) 'trains of thought' and 'poo-ber-tee', to name a few, are flying well over the heads of the young children who are being taken to see this, and hitting the target with their parents instead! This is also reflected in the slower middle-act of the film, and slower paced action, which means that the younger viewers in the showing I was in were getting fidgety, a bit bored and ultimately annoying by this point!

So, in conclusion, I guess the best piece of advice I could give to any of you readers who haven't seen Inside Out yet, is that you don't need to beg, borrow, steal or kidnap any children to take under a cloak of illusion to see this film. Go buy a ticket, walk into the showing with your head held high, ignoring all the judgemental 'starings' of any 5 year olds who think you shouldn't be there, and know deep down that this film is meant for you and not for them!

Verdict: Salted Popcorn - Easily one of Pixar's best offerings in many years, a fantastic film, that ultimately has just been marketed to the wrong audience!