How good is Pixar’s latest, ‘Soul’? Well, it’s so good that I watched an entire movie in which jazz was a central plot point and didn’t make a single Bee Movie “Ya Like Jazz?” joke.
Released exclusively on Disney+ after being persistently delayed by the COVID-19 epidemic, ‘Soul’ joins the ranks of Pixar works such as ‘Toy Story’ and ‘A Bug’s Life’ as movies whose titles wholly capture the essence of what the movie to follow is all about. ‘Toy Story’ is a story about toys, ‘A Bug’s Life’ is the life of a bug and ‘Soul’ operates on two levels: First following the journeys of souls before and after they leave their body and also as one of the most soulful movies in the Disney repertoire.
The plot follows aspiring middle-aged musician Joe (Jamie Foxx), who is unhappy teaching jazz at a New York City high school. When the chance opens up to land the gig of his dreams, Joe’s life is about to change. But that change becomes more than he bargained for when he falls through an open manhole cover on the city streets.
From there the literal take of ‘Soul’ begins – Joe wakes up having left his body behind, transformed into a blue blob that represents his soul, departed from his body and about to be shipped off to the Great Beyond. The prospect of death is not one Joe is ready for, however, and he manages to flee through the mind-warping cosmic landscape to the Great Before, a fantastic nether-realm where newly formed souls are prepared for the life they will have on Earth. Here, Joe concocts a scheme to get himself back to his body in time for the concert, but to pull it off he must first persuade one pestering soul, 22 (Tina Fey) to complete her long-delayed preparation for life on earth.
From there, many zany hijinks and deep introspections ensue, but the Pixar marketing did well to hide them from the public, so I won’t disclose them here. Instead, there is the second, more metaphorical take on the film’s title, in that the writer/director duo of Pixar veteran Pete Doctor and newcomer Kemp Powers have imbued this film with a heavy dose of ‘soul.’ You can feel it in the beautiful soundtrack and the artful introspection on the human condition. And then there is the artistic design, the serene abstracts of the cosmos coupled with the beautiful familiarity of the scenes on Earth.
This contrast is best displayed when petty soul-counter Terry (Rachel House) ventures into the physical realm, blending into their surroundings as one of Pixar’s most stylistically rendered characters ever. House is brilliant at Terry and caps off a stellar supporting cast. Foxx and Fey are expectedly brilliant as the leads (at this point, there really is nothing Jamie Foxx can’t do) but the rest of the voice actors are no slouches. An all-star line-up of character actors: House, Graham Norton, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Questlove and more fill in human and spiritual roles with equal life and distinction.
In the end, however, the most powerful choice ultimately comes in what the movie chooses not to show. Like maple helicopters hurled down by a stern wind, there are plenty of seeds planted here to allude to what Joe’s future holds: his purpose in life, his romantic potential, his friendships, his family, his career… But with each potential path comes a choice, and ‘Soul’ is not here to show what Joe’s “right” choice is.
I can certainly relate to the frustration felt by Joe, that need to find the guidebook, to know for certain which decision is right and which is wrong, to have a certainty of the specific role in life, the purpose, that you were born for. But life, in its beautiful, soulful way, isn’t that simple. We don't get to see the end to Joe's journey because we don't get to see our own, not until it happens. For according to Doctor and Powers, George Gershwin was right. Life is like jazz. It’s best with improvisation.
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