A hilarious and thought provoking film for the whole family

Rating: Null/10 (17 August 2015)

You may have a slightly altered view of your own emotions or your family and friends after seeing 'Inside Out', Pixar's latest film. It's about a little girl, Riley, the only child of adoring parents. Her happy demeanour and idyllic life in rural America are threatened by a stressful move to San Francisco for her father's work. Most of the action takes place inside Riley's head where a Star Trek like bridge provides a command centre for Riley's emotions represented by 5 different cartoon characters: Joy, who is usually in charge; Fear; Sadness; Disgust and Anger. Other areas of the brain such as the subconscious and memory are also inventively represented. The film brilliantly and hilariously demonstrates how the conflict raging inside Riley's head between these emotions manifests itself on the outside. The 5 characters each take turns as the storyline progresses to steer Riley through the move, starting a new school and the other challenges she faces and we see how hard it is for them to avoid behaving true to type even though they all clearly want the best for her and things are reaching crisis point. The story will resonate with anyone who has ever relocated against their will but could leave anyone with thoughts and ideas that may help to make sense of everyday life. Next time I am feeling down I will recall what a genuine 'drag' Sadness was for Joy as the latter was forced to haul her through the labyrinth of Riley's long term memory corridors because she was 'too sad to move'. Fear is a neurotically thin figure whose attitude in the film will serve to remind what a waste of mental energy that emotion can be. We all know real life versions of these two and may try to limit our exposure to them but watch how the film deftly reminds you how useful sadness and fear can each be on occasion too â€“ just like the drippy neighbour who is great at fixing things or the dowdy colleague who is a good listener. You will similarly see the usefulness in the right place of Anger and Disgust. I viewed this film with 3 generations of my family and we all enjoyed it enormously. Many PG and U certificate films can entertain for a couple of hours but it's a rare one that has the potential to inform and delight a happy family or re-unite a troubled one.