Not only the best computer animated film, but one of the best films...period!

Rating: 10/10 (13 May 2016)

Pixar was king of computer animation making great film after great film. They took risks and wrote compelling narratives. It seemed they could do no wrong. But then Toy Story 3 came, still good, but dark and somewhat depressing. Cars 2 was a low point for Pixar, seemingly made to sell more Cars merchandise rather than for a love of filmmaking. Brave was better, but more formulaic. Monsters University was fun, but not on the same level as their masterpieces. Had the mighty Pixar succumbed to profit making over film craft? Were they resigned to turning out product rather than turning out movies?
The answer is a resounding NO! One look at Inside Out reveals not only a studio who continues to love movie making, but a studio at the top of their game, ripe with imagination. What a fabulous movie!
Inside Out is what as known as a "low stakes" movie. In the "real world" presented in the film, it is about a pre-pubescent girl whose world is shaken by a family move. She suffers depression and runs away from home, only to come back a few hours later to parents who console her. That's it. But that's just the bare plot essence.
What the film is really about is the emotions that run the master control center of her brain, pretty much directly controlling her actions. This film delves deep into psychology. Not just pop psychology, but the science of it. It looks like it was written by people who understood how the human brain functions emotively and the impulses that influence us. It is a complex and multi-layered story with multiple meanings to several pieces of dialogue. While that sounds technical and heady, the whole thing is so tightly constructed that it plays off smoothly and organically. There are some of the most hilarious throw away lines that speak volumes of the way human beings think (mixing up facts and opinions). Some of the character's in the protagonist Riley's head meet tragic ends or suffer, but in the best of Pixar film tradition, we cry because we feel the truth of it. And the happy and sad tears flow freely TOGETHER.
Watching this film is a deeply cathartic experience. There is enough surface action to satisfy younger ones, but so much richness and depth that any adult will love it. This film, in short, makes you feel human. I am astonished with how good of a writer Peter Docteur is. I thought there would be no way he could top his previous film, UP. But here it is: a unique story, a sophisticated story, and above all a deeply moving story! This is simply one of the best films ever made.