2020 | Dir. Pete Docter | 100 Minutes
"I heard this story about a fish. He swims up to this older fish and says, 'I'm trying to find this thing they call the ocean.' 'The ocean?' says the older fish, 'That's what you're in right now.' 'This?' says the young fish, 'This is water. What I want is the ocean.'"
Middle school band teacher Joe Gardner, who has dreamed of being a career Jazz pianist his entire life, meets an untimely end moments after landing his dream job. In the crossroads between life and death, Joe refuses to move on and is tasked with mentoring 22, a soul who conversely refuses to participate in life on Earth. In an attempt to cheat the system gone awry, the pair plummet to Earth, Joe returns to life taking on an unexpected form, while 22 begins to understand the joy of living.
Inside Out director Pete Docter does it again with Soul, taking a conceptually "out there" premise and spinning it into an entertaining and captivating narrative that should please children and adults alike. The core story is pleasant and optimistic without going full saccharine, ultimately imparting the often subtle but vital distinction between passion for living and purpose in life. Simple joys such as a tasty slice of pizza, quality time with friends and family, and the sight of maple tree seeds fluttering in the breeze are captured in the picture with earnest, beautiful appreciation. The manner in which various spiritual states of being are presented in a simple-yet-quirky theoretical construct populated by comically professional anthropomorphic representations of the universe is patently brilliant and inventive. The visual depiction of being "in the zone" is particularly wonderful. The second act of the film in which Joe returns to Earth in the body of a fat therapy cat and 22 clumsily inhabits Joe's physical body is comedy gold, while the struggle a "lost soul" faces against self-doubt and depression coming to the fore in the last act is incredibly moving.
On a technical level, Soul is visually spectacular. The artistry behind Pixar's character animation is top-notch as always, with astounding attention to detail. The designs for the human characters are nuanced and appealing while the designs for the souls and their metaphysical caretakers are simple but inspired and highly versatile. The digital fully-realized recreation of New York City looks vibrant and bustling with life, from the crowded Manhattan streets to the dingy MTA subway cars. The starkness of the Great Beyond is elegant and stunning, contrasting with the gentle cloud-like rounded designs of the Great Before. It is a trippy visual and auditory feast whenever characters make the transition between the various planes of existence. The wonderful jazz music contributed by Jon Batiste blends with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' slick, ethereal film score, sounding unlike any of their previous work, to create a unique and striking soundscape.
Jamie Foxx delivers a natural and affecting performance as Joe, and Tina Fey brings her A-game as the cynical and amusingly irritating 22. Foxx and Fey share excellent comedic chemistry that settles into a believable friendship that becomes truly touching by the end of the film. Playing personifications of the universe, Alice Braga, Zenobia Shroff, Fortune Feimster, Wes Studi, and Richard Ayoade all demonstrate excellent comedic timing as the absurdly laid-back soul counselors all named Jerry, while Rachel House makes for an excellent cranky stickler playing the soul accountant Terry. The cast also features Phylicia Rashad as Joe's stern realist mother, Graham Norton as delightfully zany mystic Moonwind, Angela Bassett as no-nonsense jazz saxophonist Dorothea Williams, and Daveed Diggs and Questlove in small but memorable roles.
Sweet, hilarious, and emotionally resonant, Soul is a perfect animated film, carrying an endearingly hopeful outlook on life. It ranks among the best pictures produced by Pixar in recent years, a delightful and beautifully crafted tale, skillfully presenting deep existential concepts in a manner that's impressively accessible for children while offering an engaging, heartfelt story to viewers of all ages.
POST-CREDITS STINGER
At the bottom of the credits, after the studio logos, Terry appears ordering the audience to go home.
A113
A street sign in the distance displaying A113 appears in the Hall of Everything
PIXAR INTERCONNECTIVITY
- The Hall of Everything contains a Pizza Planet truck
- A soul interacts with Luxo Jr. in the Hall of Everything
- The ball from 1986 Pixar animated short Luxo, Jr. appears in 22's secret hideout
- Joe and 22 pass by a travel poster for PortoRosso advertising Luca Airlines
- An ad for Brang, Riley's dad's startup company from Inside Out, appears on a subway train
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Rachel House (Topaz in Thor: Ragnarok)
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Rachel House (Topaz in Thor: Ragnarok)
- Angela Bassett (Ramonda in Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame)
- Jamie Foxx (Max Dillon in Spider-Man: No Way Home)
