Soulful adventure deserves a bigger canvas
Soul (PG, 106 mins) Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers Reviewed by James Croot ★★★★ 1⁄ 2
Mr Close-but-no-cigar. Joe Gardner’s (Jamie Foxx) nickname has been hard-earned. Enraptured by music ever since his father took him to a jazz club as a child, the talented pianist has always been just one break away from his dream of the spotlight.
To pay the bills, he’s reluctantly been a part-time, middle school music teacher these past few years. But when the chance comes to go full-time with his young charges, he hesitates.
Then comes the call that could change everything. One of his former students, Curly, is a drummer with the prestigious Dorothea Williams Quartet.
‘‘Man, I could die a happy man if I could perform with her,’’ muses Joe. ‘‘Well, this could be your lucky day,’’ Curly enthuses, revealing that their regular keys man has just jumped ship on the eve of their latest tour.
If he can impress Dorothea at an impromptu audition, then he’ll be in.
Despite initial nerves, Joe does exactly that. ‘‘Get a suit. The first show is at 9pm – the soundcheck is at 7pm,’’ Dorothea (Angela Bassett) barks. However, even before Joe has had time to celebrate – or process his achievement – a potentially fatal disaster strikes as a result of amoment’s inattention.
Pixar’s 23rd animated
adventure might just be one of its most ambitious – and best – in the studio’s 25-year history. From Monsters, Inc to Up and Inside Out, writer-director Pete Docter has consistently challenged audiences while thoroughly entertaining them and guiding them through a rollercoaster of feelings.
This time, instead of the nature of nightmares, the fear of change, or the complexity of emotions, we’re treated to a fascinating and wild exploration of how personalities are created.
State-of-the-art animation mixes with much cruder, abstract (but no less engaging) designs, as Joe must journey through a series of
‘‘theoretical constructs’’ and ‘‘hypothetical weigh stations’’ to move forward in his life.
If that all sounds a bit complicated for a ‘‘family film’’, don’t worry, this is still very much a buddy comedy filled with some brilliantly conceived montages and set-pieces, physical humour and verbal wit and plenty of surprising twists and turns.
It’s also amovie that willmake you think – and provides answers to life’s eternal questions. Conundrums such as: Why are the New York Knicks cursed? Why does a barber’s chair seem to possess magical properties? And do hedge fund traders have a soul?
Yes, this is very much a love letter to New York, as well as a celebration of humanity and jazz. Arguably, it’s the Big Apple’s answer to La La Land, with Emma Stone’s would-be actress replaced by a recalcitrant, acerbic consciousness voiced by 30 Rock’s Tina Fey.
She’s just one of number of offbeat vocal casting choices. Graham Norton has a key role as a spiritualist, Richard Ayoade’s ( Travel Man) iconic, laconic tones are used to terrific effect and New Zealand’s own Rachel House is a scene-stealer as Terry, an officious bean-counter determined to balance the books and get her man (one suspects Docter and company cast her after watching her performance in Hunt for the Wilderpeople).
However, the heart and soul of this movie is Foxx ( Ray, Just Mercy). Delivering one of his finest performances in years, the former In Living Color star takes Docter and co-writer-director Kemp Powers’ (whose work will also be seen later thismonth in Amazon Prime Video’s One Night inMiami) excellent script and crafts an endearingly flawed characterwho feels like one of the most human Pixar have brought to life.
From the out-of-tune opening rendition of When You Wish Upon a Star to Terry’s post-credits sting aimed at the audience, Soul is a joyfilled delight that would have been only improved by being made available to view in its natural, spiritual home a cinema.