Review: "Inside Out" is cutest Pixar movie of the year

Inside Out PG
The trailers made the movie look like it was borderline personality comedy, the movie, with a little girl who hears voices in her head that do wacky comedy. The actual film was far more interesting.

When watching the movie you first get a shortm 'Lava' which is about a lonely volcano singing about love. Then his loved one ruses from the sea. It is one of the cutest and most catchy tunes ever. The guy performing is not from Hawaii, but he copies some of the voice all right and comes out as at least a fan.

Then it's on to the Andersons and their move from Minnesota (possibly Minneapolis) to San Francisco (near the waterfront row houses possibly), as they could not afford the immediate waterfront, or in the middle of the city. Maybe they are in the Tenderloin but on the other side.

The little girl in the story and central to it is Riley, a hockey playing and creative, possible misfit, who hears voices in her head. She is likeable if not pouty, bordering on puberty but not there yet, so she doesn't have the intense emotions of that, and Joy appears to be the surrogate for later emotions, (even though really Love could have been there as unconditional or family love, and not meant anything).

She also has Anger, a male persona who sounds like a hotheaded uncle.

Then there is Fear, a skinny male character who has googly eyes.

Then there is Disgust (which could later become envy), who is grossed out by everything, especially vegetables. 

Joy and Anger seem to run the brain, but a mix up happens, and it is because of Sadness. Sadness wants to be sad and Joy just won't let her. This leads to essentially a mental breakdown. (Only since it's Pixar it's cute and involves little glowing colored bowling balls with memories in them).

Last there is Sadness, a short and squat female character (later Depression), who has messed up happy brain land by leaving her blue touch trails everywhere, forcing Joy to go with her to find her core memory, leaving the rest of them to run her brain.

Joy and Sadness meet up with imagination characters including her silly and obviously gay imaginary friend, Bongo, (who is a pink chimera of things) and would fit in well in the city, and a unicorn, a fake boyfriend, and various other things.

Eventually Joy and Sandess learn the vailue of each other and try to overcome the obstacles to get back to the brain control tower, as they have lost track of the other memories.

The movie is ultimately about moving to another place and being sad about it, surely something people can understand. Pixar is good at pulling on emotions, so they decided on making them manifest in reality.

It still is a bit like she's schizophrenic or if nothing else, seriously obsessive compulsive. Will the sequel be about the new emotional policeman called Ritalin, or Prozac? That's would be messed up.

It is a very good movie and one of Pixar's finest since Toy Story 3. Go and see it in theaters.

Review by Adam Browne