But what makes Inside Out conceptually astonishing can sometimes make it a little clinical, a criticism raised towards Christopher Nolan’s somewhat similar dream-heist movie Inception. Like Nolan’s dream labyrinth, the mind of Riley is a highly complex system of rules, designated levels, and interconnections, an uncanny mind palace that perfectly personifies how the brain processes memory. The filmmakers clearly studied the science, and it shows; an old psychology professor would see Inside Out with glee. That comes at a cost though, effectively reducing the characters to mouthpieces for ideas, the plot into a running stream of symbols, and sometimes making it an impenetrable, cold affair. I love Inception, but for the first time I understand why some people feel that way.

Joy, Sadness, and all the rest aren’t exactly bad characters, it’s that they aren’t characters at all. They’re the divided shades of a real person, Riley, but since this is of course by design, making the obvious criticism of “weak writing” seem inapplicable. The three screenwriters made a radical move by pinning most of the drama and action on non-characters that by definition are unchangeable. What you have is learning more about them as they learn more about each other, and the payoffs lead to some truly eye watering moments of poignancy. But in between the big emotional pulls, and Inside Out has plenty that left me choked up, the film never calls full steam ahead. It’s when Joy and Sadness are in danger, whether running on collapsing train tracks or fleeing from a cave troll-sized clown, that the action feels passive. Joy is forever one note and shoots off happy-go-lucky catchphrases like she’s got an AK-47 made of rainbows and sunshine. Her character “arc” is pivotally important to the point of the piece, but she’s so pure and deliberately simple I had nothing to invest in, to care about. All of the “emotions’ are this way.

On some level, it’s a circus act of abstract ideas running from other abstract ideas, and the emotional distance between you and Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear doesn’t freeze the adventure but it does leave it a little chilled. There is fun to be had, and Pete Docter and Ronaldo Del Carmen have such a firm grasp on the innovative screenplay that the constant cleverness and punchy direction never let Inside Out stop being a great time at the movies. This is an easy movie to recommend. And in fact, I’ll recommend it to you right now. See Inside Out. It’s the easiest sell of 2015 so far, an amazing Rubik’s Cube of ideas and drama that still needed a bit more solving.

B+

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