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EDITOR'S PICK
'Inside
Out' - A simply told complex film
Rating:
***
With a unique premise that delves into the mind, "Inside Out" is based
in a new cinematic world, which is interesting enough to get you attracted, but
lacks the depth to keep you addicted.
Intelligently crafted with powerful imagination, the film is about how the brain
functions. It is about internal logic and external manifestation of emotions and
their impact on memories - short term and core memories.
Primarily, the tale reveals what is going on inside the mind of a girl called
Riley (Kaitlyn Dias). The plot involves her emotions; Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness
(Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Anger (Lewis
Black). They live in the headquarters, designed like a complex control room.
They are entrusted with her well-being and memories, to make-up who she is and
develop her personality.
The plot races through Riley's initial growing up years. Then, when she is 11
years old, her father takes up a job in San Francisco and the entire family is
uprooted from Minnesota. Riley has a hard time adjusting in her new
surroundings. Although Joy, Riley's main and most important emotion, tries to
keep things positive, the conflict of the emotions on how best to navigate a new
city, house, schools and friends to develop Riley's personality, forms the crux
of this story.
Though complicated, co-directors Pete Docter and Ronnie del Carmen along with
their writers Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley, have very smoothly ironed out all the
complex issues, making this a simple, easy to absorb narration. The more you try
to analyse the creative process, the more impressive it gets, but unfortunately
the conflicts are too few to give you a high.
The film is brought to life with interesting characterisation and props, like
the train of thoughts. The character graphs are well-etched within the
environment. It's somewhat strange to think about characters as short-lived as
emotions and imaginary friends, Bing Bong (Richard Kind) and a floppy-haired
boyfriend, but they really work on two levels; the emotions themselves as
exaggerated figures with distinct points of view and how they help us to get
more information about Riley.
The messages are simple that hit the right notes. The narration drags at
mid-point as it tells us the journey of Joy is to accept being sad. Sadness
isn't necessarily an emotion to reduce, but an integral part of human life.
Humour is consistently paced and each emotion gets some good jokes. It is
actually during the last act and scene, when the film plunges into the minds of
Riley's parents and her dog, which makes the tone amusing and
attention-grabbing.
The vocal cast is expertly chosen and all of them deliver beautifully.
This is definitely not one of Pixar's best production in terms of visuals. The
animation, with 2D and 3D effects is pixelated, oft-seen and less flashy, but
nevertheless effective.
This is a heart-warming funny film that may well be a bit abstract for children.
But would definitely appeal to the rest.