Film Review: Inside Out

I also feel a sense of victory when I go home to Ireland and manage to see a film that is weeks away from being released in Germany. This time I went to see the latest Disney Pixar offering, Inside Out, as a laugh was needed following 5 long days of rain.

Inside Out tells the story of happy-go-lucky, eleven-year-old Riley whose world is thrown upside down when her family move to San Francisco. The storyline focuses on Riley’s emotions, Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who try to guide her through this difficult time. However, events are thrown into utter turmoil when Joy and Sadness are thrown into the depths of Riley’s memories, leaving the other emotions to deal with the consequences.

This film has been totally hyped up and it was recommended that I go see it numerous times. Safe to say, I was pretty much looking forward to seeing it. However, when it didn’t pick up by the halfway point, I allowed my feelings of disappointment to come trickling in. Yes, there were some parts which did induce a little giggle, but there were none of the laugh out loud moments I have come to expect from Pixar. In my opinion, the funniest part was during the rolling credits when we were shown the emotions in some other people’s heads.

The part that I did appreciate in Inside Out was the underlying adult theme of depression. Hopefully this doesn’t count as a spoiler, but it basically told the viewer that sadness was not something which should be ignored, but something which needs to be understood and dealt with in order to continue a happy life.

Overall, I was not satisfied with Inside Out. Saying that, many people seemed to have truly enjoyed it, and you may be one of those people. But I say just wait for the DVD.