Inside Out (2015)

Genre

Animation | Adventure | Comedy

Directors

Pete Docter | Ronaldo Del Carmen

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Richard King, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Paula Poundstone, Bobby Moynihan, Paula Pell, Dave Goelz, Frank Oz, Josh Cooley, Flea, John Ratzenberger, Carlos Alazraqui, Lori Alan, Rashida Jones

Storyline

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley (Kaitlyn Dias), who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions - Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley's mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley's main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.

Opinion

After waiting for the entire summer for this film to be released in Italy - and having my expectations constantly increasing as I was reading both critics and audience's reviews - yesterday I finally got to watch this. And let me tell you, at Pixar's they do know how to do their job.

Wonderfully animated, colorful, funny and moving, Inside Out is another cinematic gem that will make you experience a full range of emotions. Also it suits everybody, delivering fun for kids, and food for thought for adults, although it feels more mature, and adult inclined than ever.

The writing is just brilliant. The film has two storytelling, joined by the fact of being focused on the same character, Riley, but set in two completely different worlds. One in real life, the other one inside the human mind. 

As previously mentioned, the kids will be fascinated by the animations, colours, and gags, while the adults will get the most complex meaning of the film. In short words, the film brilliantly shows the way things change growing up, but this time digging deeper is vital.

The film focuses both on memories and emotions. It shows that some memories will remain indelible and will define our personality, and some others are meant to be forgotten. Along with memories come emotions. These two go hand in hand. Growing up, we realize that those pure memories made up by one single emotion, whether is joy, sadness, disgust, anger, or fear, are set to become a mixture. And this is how we realize that also "negative" emotions such as sadness can be a great resource to us, allowing personal development and growth.

Needless to say is that the animations are spectacular. Everything is accurate in every detail. Actually nothing less could have been expected from Pixar. The soundtrack is also beautiful. Among the many gags, the cat's one is the most hilarious. Also Lava, the animated short movie that precedes the screening of Inside Out, is up to this film. 

"Crying helps me slow down and obsess over the weight of life's problems." - Sadness