Soul: 3.5 out of 5 stars – Pixar’s latest is praiseworthy for tackling heavy themes of life and death. Joe Gardener (Jamie Foxx) is a music teacher who was born to play jazz. However, when he gets the opportunity of a lifetime, he missteps and finds his soul heading to the Great Beyond. He’s not ready to die, so he helps another soul (Tina Fey) search for their passion in hopes of reuniting with his body. Their journey is meditative and moving with excellent humor to keep the story light when needed. And the fact it’s all enraptured within astonishing animation should come as no surprise at this point.
Co-directed and written by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers, Joe is so caught up in his own perceived meaning and purpose that he loses sight of that special spark to feel truly alive. And while the emotion is unmistakably there, I wanted so much for this to be the next Up or Inside Out and it’s not. Maybe that was a mistake on my part, though there’s a lingering feeling the filmmakers could have done more to explore such weighty elements – holding Soul back from becoming one of Pixar’s elite. Still, by the end, the life-affirming message is sweetly and vibrantly told for all who wonder why life is so precious. It’s about living life to the fullest and breathing in the beauty occurring all around us that we’re all guilty of ignoring.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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