Soul

— Disney can sometimes weave their Pixar stories to focus on complicated emotions and issues in a complex story, with creative images and sounds, and more than a few tugs of the heartstrings, while managing to speak directly to both a young and an older audience. “Inside Out” is a good example of this art at its best and “Soul” had the same potential but didn’t quite reach it. It’s the story of a jazz musician who dies but doesn’t want to give up his life when he’s on the brink of success—an otherworldly tale of his soul headed toward the “Great Beyond,” in the “Great Before,” and dropping in and out of the physical world via some kind of portal. All this moving around the astral plane coincides with some “soul searching” and the realization that we evidently shouldn’t hold back but go with what we what we love and enjoy the life we have while taking in the beauty all around us. The music’s wonderful, is , and gorgeous to look at, and the message is worthwhile, but it’s a little jumbled and, ironically, didn’t manage to get into my soul. I was glad it was beautiful, but disappointed that it seemed to not achieve its potential. [Disney+ streaming.]

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[2020. 100 min. Directed by Pete Doctor and Kemp Powers. Featuring voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, and Graham Norton.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/soul-movie-review-2020