Review: INSIDE OUT

INSIDE OUT  (ANIMATION/FAMILY)
4 out of 4 stars 
Directed by Pete Docter
Co-directed by Ronnie del Carmen
Featuring the Voices of: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader, Lewis Black, Mindy Kaling, Kaitlyn Dias, Diane Lane, Kyle McLachlan, Paula Poundstone, Bobby Moynihan, David Goelz, Frank Oz, Josh Cooley
Rated PG for mild thematic elements and some action.
94 minutes (plus a 7-minute short film)
Verdict: Profound and thought-provoking, Pixar's 15th animated feature film is their most clever and emotionally complex yet, and will change the way you think and feel about think and feeling.
YOU MAY ENJOY INSIDE OUT IF YOU LIKED:
UP  (2009)
MONSTERS, INC.  (2001)
TOY STORY 3  (2010)
TOY STORY 2  (1999)
FINDING NEMO  (2003)

The more I think about INSIDE OUT, the more I like it.  It's endlessly, ingeniously inventive from start to finish, and while it undoubtedly has its sad parts like any self-respecting emotional journey, it would be misleading to describe it as a sad movie.  The most apt single word for describing INSIDE OUT is 'poignant'.  It's a beautiful, often hilarious, and deeply moving story about growing up and moving on, giving up what you have for something better, and why change is good, but also why it's okay to feel sad about it.  Being that most of it's primary characters are emotions, it's fitting that INSIDE OUT is Pixar's most emotionally complex film yet.
Riley Anderson (voiced by Kaitlyn Dias) is a preteen girl from Minnesota who loves her mom (voiced by Diane Lane) and dad (voiced by Kyle McLachlan), hockey, her friends and goofing off, but when her dad's start-up business forces the family to move to a new home in San Francisco, she finds her entire life, even her sense of self, in upheaval.  That's what's happening on the outside anyway, but most of the story is taking place inside her mind; not her brain, mind you, but her mind.  At the front of the mind is Headquarters, where her five emotions help her to react to situations and interact with other people.  Usually at the wheel is Joy (voiced by Parks and Recreation's Amy Poehler), whose job it is to keep Riley happy, in particular, making happy memories.  Fear (voiced by Saturday Night Live's Bill Hader) keeps Riley safe, Disgust (voiced by Mindy Kaling of The Mindy Project and The Office) keeps Riley from poisoning herself, "physically and socially", and Anger (voiced by The Daily Show contributor Lewis Black) is very concerned with making sure things are fair.  Then there's Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith, also of The Office), but no one is quite sure what her value is to Riley, since all she does is make things sad.  Now Sadness is acting up, and when her interference creates a sad core memory, the most important memories which form Riley's personality, Joy tries to stop it from taking hold and accidentally sends herself and Sadness all the way to Long-Term Memory.  While Joy and Sadness try to find their way back to Headquarters with the help of Riley's obsolete and childishly innocent imaginary friend, Bing Bong (voiced by Richard Kind), Anger, Disgust and Fear struggle to run things by themselves.

Writer/director Pete Docter (whose earlier directorial efforts include UP and MONSTERS, INC.) has created a beautiful story about the power of empathy and how we connect with our fellow human beings through our emotions, emotions that have their variations between persons, but which are ultimately more similar between people than different.  It's a story about how our memories and experiences, rooted in emotions, make each person who they are and how the perspective of our memories can change, effectively changing ourselves.  It's a story that can lead us to consider more strongly ourselves and the people around us, why we think and feel the way we do, why the people around us think and feel the way they do, and how we're all the sum of our memories, feelings and defining moments, just trying to figure out our own way.

The complex psychological concepts are marvelously rendered in a manner palatable to general audiences as our characters travel aboard the Train of Thought, venture into the scary Subconscious (where they take "troublemakers"), and even take a moment to jumble up some facts and opinions.  The emotion characters are enticingly colorful, each one cleverly designed, animated and voiced to delightfully spot-on personifications of the relevant concepts.  Amy Poehler, probably best known as the relentlessly enthusiastic, upbeat politician Leslie Knope on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, brings a similar sensibility to Joy, with all her optimism, frustration and go-getter attitude that's well matched with Pixar animation that makes her interesting and endearing.  Sadness, with the soft-spoken, melancholy voice of Phyllis Smith, best known as Phyllis Lapin-Vance in another NBC sitcom, The Office, is small and sweet, with a comically bleak perspective and earns our sympathy and admiration.  In the supporting roles, Disgust, Fear and Anger get most of the big laughs and each one has their appealing quirks, but one of the biggest surprises is Bing Bong, voiced by recurring Pixar voice Richard Kind (previously "Molt" in A BUG'S LIFE, "Bookworm" in TOY STORY 3, and "Van" in both CARS and CARS 2), who is a character so ridiculous and so innocent, by all rights, he should be annoying, but instead he's the movie's most endearing (and heartbreaking) character, and the key to both Sadness' and Joy's journeys.
This is a movie that embraces the importance of sorrow in relation to joy, and explores complex ideas with colorful imagery and comedy while being something that the whole family can appreciate, some more than others, but everyone nonetheless.  It's been a while since Pixar came out with something this good.  I don't know if it's Pixar's best, but following the nadir that was CARS 2, the disappointingly impersonal and half-baked BRAVE, and the bland mediocrity of MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, INSIDE OUT is finally another Pixar film that can stand alongside their other masterpieces.  What's more, it's the kind of movie that for all the enjoyment you'll have, it will change the way you think about how you and those around you are thinking.