Soul (2020) review (Disney+)

If there was even remotely a downside to the wondrous prospect of getting two Pixar films in a single year, it would be the fact that the more well-received entry of the two always ends up overshadowing the other. To be fair, though, this is never the films’ fault as it’s just the natural consequence of the consistently competitive nature of the film industry. Still, there’s no denying that this scenario has very much happened before whenever Pixar releases multiple films in a year. Whereas 2015’s Inside Out was their biggest hit in years, The Good Dinosaur was their first major commercial flop. And in 2017, all eyes were on the two-time Oscar winner that was Coco, thus leaving the decent Cars 3, a genuinely superior follow-up to what ended up being Pixar’s first critical dud (2011’s Cars 2), in the dust. Sure enough, this is something that will probably happen this year as well, which began with the release of Dan Scanlon’s Onward, a film that, despite being royally screwed over by COVID from a financial perspective did solidly with critics but not quite as well as Soul has fared with them. To reiterate, though, everything that I’ve said in this intro is not meant to be a dig against Soul; I mean, seriously, how could I when it’s the latest outing from one of Pixar’s most prolific directors, Pete Docter. Simply put, Pixar’s newly appointed Chief Creative Officer has been responsible for some of their most critically acclaimed releases such as the previously mentioned Inside Out, his directorial debut from 2001, Monsters Inc, and 2009’s Up AKA the second-ever animated film in history to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars after Beauty and the Beast. And sure enough, he delivers yet another beautifully animated and emotionally poignant masterpiece with Soul.

Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx) is a part-time music teacher in New York City who, despite being offered a full-time teaching gig, primarily aspires to become a jazz musician just like his late father. Luckily for him, he manages to earn an opportunity to achieve that dream when he impresses legendary jazz performer Dorothea Williams (voiced by Angela Bassett) enough for her to invite him to perform with her band. Unfortunately for Joe, his big break is then immediately upended when he ends up in an accident that puts him on a one-way ticket to the Great Beyond. However, Joe’s insistence that it isn’t his time results in him escaping into the exact opposite dimension, the Great Before, where all new human souls are molded into the personalities that they’ll become once they arrive on Earth. It is there that Joe meets 22 (voiced by Tina Fey), a soul who has been stuck in the Great Before for quite some time because of her cynical outlook on life on Earth that has kept her from finding the ‘spark’ that completes a soul’s identity. And once he figures out that he’s still alive on Earth, Joe teams up with 22 to try and get him back into his body so that his life won’t end up being a complete waste of his potential; in the process, Joe even begins to convince 22 of all the great things that life has to offer.

While it’s probably easy to compare this film to Pete Docter’s last project, Inside Out, it should be noted that Soul is far from being a ‘clone’ of that film. Instead, I’d describe it as a ‘spiritual companion’ piece since both films focus on the things that make us humans tick, albeit through different methods. In the case of Inside Out, this was, of course, by way of it exploring the concept of one’s emotions, thus showcasing the importance of all facets of the emotional spectrum rather than just a single emotional trait. As for Soul… well, the title speaks for itself as Docter and co-director Kemp Powers do a fantastic job of tackling themes such as finding one’s purpose in life and the unique things that folks are passionate about. This naturally results in a lot of great emotional moments which, to be fair, is something that you can always expect to see in a Pixar film but are arguably even more powerful here given the subject matter and how it encourages us all to live our lives to the fullest. And as to be expected from a Pixar film, Soul sports some terrific animation, especially when it comes to the wonderfully abstract landscape that is the Great Before where the counselors who oversee everything are presented as if they’re two-dimensional beings in this computer-animated feature. Plus, the entire film is bolstered by a great collection of delightful jazz tunes from the Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s Jon Batiste.

One long-standing Pixar tradition that Soul dutifully maintains is the well-layered lead duo that headlines the story; in this instance, we have Joe Gardner and Soul #22, who easily take their place alongside other classic Pixar duos such as Woody and Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story series and Mike and Sulley from Monsters Inc. As Joe, Jamie Foxx does a great job in making the aspiring jazz musician a solidly likable protagonist even with all the instances where his lofty aspirations end up clouding his judgment to the point where he makes some selfish decisions. And as 22, Tina Fey is a natural fit for the role of Joe’s hilariously snarky sidekick who ends up getting just as many great emotional beats as he does since her sarcastic persona is revealed to be masking an incredibly sympathetic backstory. Soul also has plenty of another Pixar staple, memorable supporting characters, and while I do think that this is another instance like Onward where the story largely focuses more on Joe and 22 than anyone else, that doesn’t mean that we don’t get a bunch of fun side characters. U.K. talk-show host Graham Norton, for example, is an utter delight as Moonwind, an eccentric sign twirler on Earth who also helps save lost souls in the Great Before. There’s also plenty of reliable supporting players such as Rachel House as Terry, the official soul counter of the Great Beyond who tries to locate Joe when he goes missing, Alice Braga and Richard Ayoade as two of the Counselors in the Great Before (who, for the record, are all named Jerry), and Phylicia Rashad as Joe’s overbearing mother Libba.

I realize that what I’m about to say will probably be one of the most cliched and obvious statements that I’ve ever made as a film critic, but at the same time, it’s ironically an incredibly apt way of conveying exactly what kind of film this is. In other words, the one word that I would use to describe Pete Docter’s Soul is that it’s… soulful. With gorgeous animation and a top-notch story that tackles incredibly relevant concepts, Soul is arguably one of the best examples of an animated film that flawlessly appeals to both kids and adults. It covers some of the most thematically deep and mature themes that have ever been featured in a Pixar film and, in true Pixar fashion, pulls off an emotionally cathartic tale that, above all, ends up being a heartwarming celebration of life, thus making this an incredibly timely release in the age of COVID-19. Sure, COVID may have been the reason why Soul was forced to forego its theatrical release in favor of debuting on Disney+, but that doesn’t stop it from being another one of Pixar’s modern masterpieces. To be fair, though, that’s basically what’s to be expected at this point when it comes to the Pixar films that are directed by Pete Docter, and while this is probably going to be his last directorial effort for a while as he transitions into the role of Pixar’s Chief Creative Officer, it’s safe to say that this will attract a lot of attention during awards season.

Rating: 5/5!

This is Where I Leave You (2014) review

Dysfunctional families have been a key element of a lot of films. Last year, there was the multiple award-nominated film ‘August: Osage County’ and it has also been prevalent in films like ‘The Fighter’ and ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. This concept has also been a part of multiple TV shows. In fact, it’s pretty much a given that almost every major TV sitcom, whether it be live-action or animated, will center on a dysfunctional family as it has been proven by shows like ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Arrested Development’, and ‘Family Guy’. And of course, the dysfunctional family plotline is the key focus of ‘This is Where I Leave You’, directed by Shawn Levy (with a film that is a definite change of pace for him as it is his first R-rated film after working on multiple family-friendly films like the ‘Night at the Museum’ movies) and based off of the 2009 book of the same name by Jonathan Tropper. The family of this film is very much a dysfunctional family so if you’re not a fan of a whole heck of a lot of arguing, this film is probably not for you. But ‘This is Where I Leave You’ does manage to provide a really solid amount of laughs primarily thanks to its great ensemble cast. But what’s even better is how this movie manages to find a good balance of comedy and drama, something that’s not exactly that easy to do. But this film manages to do it and do it pretty well.

On the day of his 3^rd wedding anniversary, Judd Altman (Jason Bateman) unfortunately finds out the hard way that his wife Quinn (Abigail Spencer) is having an affair with his boss Wade (Dax Shepard) when he walks in on them having sex in their apartment. As if things couldn’t get any worse, a few weeks later he gets a call from his sister Wendy (Tina Fey) who tells him that their father has just died. They then return to their hometown where they reunite with their mother Hilary (Jane Fonda) and their two brothers, Paul (Corey Stoll) and Phillip (Adam Driver). After the funeral, they learn that as his last request, their father wanted them to mourn him through the Jewish tradition of Shiva, in which the family of the deceased gather and sit for a period of seven days in mourning. Even though the family isn’t actually Jewish, the siblings find themselves forced into doing it anyway when their mom ends up grounding them. So now that they’re all stuck under the same roof again having to honor the period of Shiva, the dysfunctional siblings end up starting to reconnect with one another as each member finds themselves having to deal with not only the loss of their father but also the current conflicts in their lives.

As is common in any dysfunctional family story, there is quite a lot of bickering amongst the Altman siblings and most of the film’s humor comes from the awkward moments that usually occur during these scenes. Overall, the film does have a pretty solid amount of humor though of course like with every comedy not all of the jokes hit. In the case of this film, it’s mostly in regards to the ‘gross-out’ moments in the film, like this one recurring gag in which the young son of one of the siblings keeps going to the bathroom in this little portable toilet that he always carries around. Thankfully, these moments don’t dominate the film’s humor. But ultimately the film’s greatest strength is that even amidst all of the arguing and gross-out moments, it plays things seriously when it needs to be. After all, this is a ‘dramedy’ about a family coping with the death of a loved one, a subject that isn’t and never will be funny. Thankfully this is not where the film’s humor comes from and the film manages to find a good balance of the humor and the drama, something that isn’t always easy to do when it comes to dramedies. Even though there are quite a lot of scenes where the Altman family is arguing with each other, there are also plenty of scenes in which they bond and these scenes are actually really touching and sweet.

Of course, this is mostly thanks to the film’s terrific ensemble cast. Their camaraderie with one another is superb and their relationships with each other feel genuine, hence why the scenes of them bonding are as strong as they are. Bateman and Fey’s more straight-faced attitudes help bring a nice balance to the crazier characters in the film, like Phillip for instance. Driver is easily one of the biggest standouts of the film in the role of the youngest of the Altman siblings which of course means that he doesn’t always act mature and Driver has quite a lot of charisma in the role. Fonda is also one of the film’s major standouts; most of her material is in relation to her character’s recent boob job which of course is a recurring joke throughout the film. But she also brings the proper motherly instinct that the role requires. As for the rest of the cast, some admittedly could’ve been given larger roles in the film, like Rose Byrne, who has really proven himself to be an excellent comedic talent earlier this year in ‘Neighbors’, as Judd’s former love interest from high school (Byrne and Bateman do have really nice chemistry) and even Corey Stoll, who kind of makes the smallest impression compared to his three sibling co-stars, but overall the cast is superb from top to bottom.

‘This is Where I Leave You’ can be quite wacky at times, as one would expect from a film centered on a dysfunctional family. But when it needs to, the film smartly tones down the craziness and as for this film being a dramedy, it’s one of the better ones that I’ve seen because it does do a really great job at balancing the humorous moments with the more serious moments. And those serious moments when the usually bickering Altmans start to reconnect with one another provide the heart of the film. Of course, this is primarily thanks to the film’s terrific ensemble cast. Not only do they have great camaraderie with one another but that also makes the relationships between their characters feel very much genuine from an emotional standpoint. Despite the occasional immature or gross-out moment, this is easily one of director Shawn Levy’s most mature films to date, if not the most. I haven’t read the book this was based on so I can’t say much about how faithful it is to the book (although I have heard about a scene from the book that got cut involving a cake that seems like a really funny situation but sadly it’s not in the film) but overall ‘This is Where I Leave You’ is a nice solid piece of entertainment that not only has a good amount of laughs but also a really good amount of heart as well.

Rating: 4/5

Muppets Most Wanted (2014) review

One of the most pleasant surprises of 2011 was Disney’s reboot of ‘The Muppets’, the first ‘Muppets’ film to be released theatrically in more than a decade. It was clear that with this film, writers Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller had a lot of respect for the franchise, and that really showed in the final product. It was a film that was not only both charming and funny, but also one that had a lot of heart to it as well, resulting in what was definitely one of the best films of that year. Now, the Muppets are back again with ‘Muppets Most Wanted’. Most of the members of the previous film’s behind-the-scenes crew return for this one, including director James Bobin, writer Nicholas Stoller, and songwriter/music supervisor Bret McKenzie. This one, however, features a new cast of leads (not counting any of its cameos) in place of Jason Segel (who also does not return as one of the writers) and Amy Adams. How does this one hold up? Well, it may not exactly have the same amount of heart as its predecessor, but it’s still a very fun and zany film, one that pretty much captures the essence of why the Muppets are as memorable as they are.

‘Muppets Most Wanted’ literally opens right at the end of the last film, as the Muppets now look ahead wondering what to do for a ‘sequel’ now that they are famous again. A new opportunity arises when ‘tour manager’ Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) suggests that they go on a world tour. Despite Kermit’s hesitations, the Muppets agree to go on this world tour. What they don’t know is that this is actually a ruse set up by Dominic and his partner Constantine, the world’s number one criminal, who plan to steal the Crown Jewels of Britain and frame the Muppets for the crime. Constantine just so happens to be a dead ringer for Kermit, so part of the plan consists of Constantine taking Kermit’s place in the group while Kermit is sent to jail. Constantine manages to fool most of the other Muppets, including Miss Piggy, into believing that he is Kermit. However, Walter, Fozzie, and Animal figure out he isn’t and try to help Kermit get out of jail before Dominic and Constantine can succeed with their plan.

While this film is just as charming as its 2011 predecessor, it doesn’t really have the same heart that ‘The Muppets’ had. That film was, in every sense of the term, an open love letter to the franchise with the intent of making the franchise prominent again, which it did. As for this one, though, it’s basically just your average sequel. It goes through most of the motions that most sequels go through when they get made. However, that’s not really a bad film in regards to the film itself. This is really more of a case of the way that the film is executed. This is, as advertised, an international road trip/farce that’s more in line with a film like ‘The Great Muppet Caper’ or ‘Muppets Take Manhattan’. This is an old school ‘Muppets’ film and it’s a pretty solid representation of the franchise in general. There still are a few good morals and touching moments in this film, but I can’t say it’s as heartwarming as the previous film, a film that appealed to both the young newcomers to the franchise and those who grew up with it to begin with. This one is still a solid family film, though it kind of feels like this one is just a little bit more geared to kids.

With that said though, this is still a very fun movie full of pop culture references, zany humor, and cameos galore. And I do mean ‘cameos galore’ because there are a ton of them in here, probably even more so than in the original. There are appearances from people like Tom Hiddleston, Ray Liotta, Danny Trejo, and Lady Gaga just to name a few. All of them seem to be having a lot of fun doing this film keeping in line with the film’s silly atmosphere. The same can be said for the 3 three main leads; Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, who plays a Russian guard at the prison Kermit gets locked up in, and Ty Burrell, who plays an Interpol inspector who works with Sam the Eagle as the two investigate the robberies being committed by Dominic and Constantine. If I had to choose a standout from the three, it would have to be Burrell. He and Sam the Eagle work off each other really well and a lot of the film’s funniest lines come from those two, like the one that has been shown in the trailer where they show off their badges, trying to one up each other in regards to how big their badges are.

All in all, ‘Muppets Most Wanted’ is a pretty solid representation of the Muppets franchise as a whole; fun, zany, but also charming at the same time. However, I can’t quite say that this one was as heartwarming as its predecessor. That’s not entirely a problem here because in execution, this is very much a farce and as such, it’s still a very entertaining family film in that regard. It’s clear that everyone involved had a lot of fun making this film and it does show in the final product. Overall, if you really liked 2011’s ‘The Muppets’, than you will probably enjoy this film; if you didn’t, then you probably won’t like this one either. In the end though, I do think that ‘The Muppets’ was the better film because, from the bottom up, it was an open love letter to the franchise and as a result was a lot more heartwarming and sweet because of this. This film on the other hand, while still a charming and goofy family film, doesn’t really have that same benefit. Still, it’s a fun film that the whole family can enjoy; that includes both general newcomers and long-time fans.

Rating: 4/5