I am the coming together of all quantized fields of the universe
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 50 Movies of 2020...
#2 : Soul
Pixar’s latest animation, in which Jamie Foxx voices the central character, a jazz musician whose body becomes separated from his soul. Directed by Pete Docter, who was previously behind Up and Inside Out, this returns Pixar to the emotionally intelligent brilliance that has been its special hallmark.
And FINALLY - a film I've actually seen on the list. I'm happy to take some of the blame, but not all of it - there have been a lot of films on this list that I suspect very few people in the country have seen, and fewer still have actually enjoyed. However, let's not dwell on the past and move onwards and upwards to this, the second best film of last year. Or was it?
Well, I'll be honest, I remember enjoying this one but apart from a vague mental overview in line with the description above, I'm struggling to remember too much about what happened. I remember there were some clever bits in it but I also remember being somewhat unsure as to whether they'd just expanded some bits of Inside Out (which I love) and well, not done them quite as well as they did in that film. I'm pretty certain that, within the confines of this list, even a mid-table Pixar film is going to come out well but it will be interesting to see what my views are on watching it again.
And from the get-go, it's obvious this is someone's love letter to jazz - this shines through even for someone like me that a) isn't musical and b) doesn't really like jazz. But maybe, just maybe it likes jazz a bit too much at the start. But once it leaves the jazz behind and moves on to the eternal plane, there's no denying that there are some interesting ideas on display - there's been a lot of clever thinking gone into this (most of which I'd completely forgotten from my first viewing). It definitely gets a bit too jazzy at other times in the film as well, but it both ties it all up and leaves it hanging nicely at the end (and without resorting to too much jazz).
The animation is, of course, flawless - some of the use of light and shade is very impressive. There's also an interesting mix of styles on display throughout the film (like Inside Out, funnily enough). The script is cute enough, with some entertaining humour involved, but I wouldn't say it's quite top drawer - it's "nice" without being stellar.
The voice acting seems pretty good - although I'd have to say I've no idea how hard voice acting really is. Jamie Foxx does a very natural job as Joe Gardner, the main character - it's a very believable and unflashy portrayal. Tina Fey (who is fantastic in Inside Out) does a less impressive job for me as 22, but I guess the concept of an unborn soul is also a harder one to portray/relate to. I'd also completely forgotten that Graham Norton and Richard Ayaode were in the film - the former in particular does a good job (but I don't think anyone would say he hasn't got a pretty expressive voice!).
One niggle - I'm not 100% convinced it doesn't play on or reinforce certain African-American stereotypes, but I'm not really the man to either confirm or deny this though. The internet (unsurprisingly) has opinions on the matter - funnily enough, I haven't read them all but I struggle to argue with the viewpoint that some representation is better than none and the stereotypes on display are NOTHING compared to those shown in older Disney films.
And, to finish up, a couple of things I didn't know that Wikipedia told me about the film - this is the first Pixar film not to feature John Ratzenburger in a voice role (although apparently he appears as a background character - I can't say I noticed him but I'm not going to argue with them). Also, the film's score (except for the specific jazz numbers) is done by Nine Inch Nails - I suspect not many people would guess that.
So - overall I thought it was a better film that I remembered it being, with some clever ideas in it, but it's obviously not quite as memorable as it would like to be. I will also point out that it's family-friendly which is a rarity for films on this list - yes, I appreciate that not all films have to be watchable by everyone but it's often tricky to find films which we can all watch, so such recommendations are always very welcome.
For me though, it's just not quite top-drawer Pixar so it feels like a bit of a let-down, but I do realise this is a very high bar indeed And it's odd because I'm now trying (and failing) to decide which of their films I think is the best. Inside Out? One of the Toy Storys? (but which one?). I've got a soft spot for Monsters Inc too (it's got a perfect ending!). I guess it all comes down to preferences and for some people, it will be Soul - and they have certainly made worse films than this (we don't have boys, so were lucky enough to avoid Cars 2/3). If you haven't seen it and you're partial to a spot of animation then you should definitely watch it - but I'm not sure you'll be coming back to it over and over.
At the time of writing, it's unsurprisingly available on Disney+ and I suspect it'll be staying there for quite some time.
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