Presses all the right buttons

141107_01

Inside Out (PG)
Starring: Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Richard Kind, Bill Hader

PIXAR’S latest animated movie plays on the emotions – and deliberately so – in a complex and playful story that has proven a hit with young and old.
The movie takes us on an engaging, vibrant and imaginative look inside the mind of Riley, a happy young girl raised in the values of America’s quiet Midwest, who gets wrenched as a pre-teen from her familiar surroundings, friends and beloved hockey team when the family moves to San Francisco.
Riley then has to navigate the unknowns of new surroundings, a new school, her isolation and crazy new pizza combinations.
Riley’s emotions are played out at emotional headquarters by the characters Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust – with Joy taking the lead role in expressing Riley’s emotions and guarding her ‘core memories’, which power Riley’s personality and approach to life.
Joy tries her best to keep the other emotions in balance, but seems especially keen to keep Sadness from the controls, as Joy has learned that Sadness affects everything she touches.
Disaster strikes shortly after the shift when Joy and Sadness are accidentally ejected from the emotional control room – with the core memories – leaving Anger, Fear and Disgust in control of all the levers while Joy tries to figure out how to get back to headquarters – and with Riley cut off from all the strong memories that kept her grounded.
The resulting emotional turmoil and insecurity is played out on Riley’s face as over time she grows quiet, argues with parents and then plots to run away from home and return to the Midwest, where her strongest, happiest memories were created.
Joy has to work overtime behind the scenes to find a way back to headquarters to try and get Riley’s emotions back on track, with Sadness in tow … until need forces Joy to leave Sadness behind.
Along the way, she learns that Riley’s most powerful memories – all joyful on the surface – are underpinned by moments of sadness, when Riley was most in need of a little TLC.
The result is a richer understanding of the interplay of emotions – which is fitting as Riley grows older and matures – and the realisation for Joy that Sadness has her rightful place.
It’s a voyage of self-discovery that we can all relate to, and one that clearly tugged at the heartstrings of the red-eyed from this reviewer’s Saturday afternoon session.
– Andrew Cantwell