Review: Soul

Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios.

In recent years, Pixar Animation Studios has primarily focused on sequels and a few straightforward animated movies such as "The Good Dinosaur" and "Onward." In its heyday, the studio was responsible for some of the best animated movies ever - such as "Wall-E" and "Up" - and although most of its recent output has been good, it hasn't quite lived up to its previous work.

However, every once in a while, Pixar puts out something magic - five years ago, it was the clever and winsome "Inside Out." This year, it's the funny, moving and thoughtful "Soul." What a lovely movie this is - and proof that Pixar still can make animated movies that are sweet, fun and charming enough for children, but also intelligent and dramatically engaging enough for adults.

In the film, a jazz pianist named Joe (voiced by Jaime Foxx) is stuck teaching high school music classes and feels as if he's not fulfilling his life's purpose. One day, he hears about a gig with a famous woman saxophone player, and he shines during a rehearsal, landing the job. But while he is rejoicing afterward while walking down the street, he falls in a manhole and wakes up on a stairway to the Great Beyond.

That is, Joe's soul finds itself on the staircase, while his body is attached to a machine in a hospital. He manages to skip the Great Beyond and finds himself in a field populated by small, unused souls that have yet to be sent to Earth. He finagles his way into becoming a mentor for a young soul named 22 (Tina Fey) who has never been able to make it to Earth due to her difficult nature, having been mentored by everyone from Abraham Lincoln to Mother Teresa, whom she made cry.

Joe and 22 find a way back to Earth, but things get messed up, and 22 finds herself in Joe's body, while Joe lands in the body of a therapy cat at the hospital where his body is being kept in a bed. Much of the rest of the film involves Joe and 22 trying to figure out a way to get Joe's soul back into his own body; all the while he gives 22 pointers on how to live life on planet Earth once she finally gets there.

But one of the more interesting - and ultimately moving - elements of the picture is how Joe has been going about his life the wrong way prior to his return in the body of a cat. He goes for a haircut at a favorite barber's shop, but it is 22 who manages to get the barber to talk about his life - and Joe realizes all this time he's been droning on about jazz to the barber. 22 also does a better job of communicating with Joe's mother, who wants him to give up his dream of being a jazz musician, and Joe comes to realize that mentoring young people - such as the high school students he has been teaching all along - has its own rewards. 

Meanwhile, a fuddy duddy named Terry (Rachel House's voice) has realized that a soul is missing from the Great Beyond and travels to Earth to try to bring Joe and 22 back. As this is going on, Joe is hoping to get back into his body to make the gig with the jazz band for which he auditioned.

"Soul" is full of the Pixar magic that has made some of its best films so special. It's often very funny, but also wise and manages to make viewers a little misty eyed without overdoing it. It's also true to life in ways that might surprise you, considering you're watching an animated movie. As always, its animated characters are memorable, both in their visual representation, but also due to the personalities voiced by the cast. 

"Soul" is Pixar's best film in five years. Although I've enjoyed the studio's output in recent years, it's always great to see them working in top form as they are here. This is a big hearted, generous movie and one of the year's best.