Soul

​I’ll defer you to my video review first:

Now I’ll add that I’m getting to my written post at a perfect time. Not to get too personal here, but my whole life I’ve struggled to find a single great job or great relationship. Every time it seems like the moment’s arrived, I’m suddenly told someone else was a better fit or the feelings just weren’t there. What with my turning 40 in January, it’s been harder than ever to avoid thoughts of, “What have I got to show for my time on Earth?” Yesterday I got another crushing decision regarding an absolute dream job I thought was in the bag. I seriously listened to this masterpiece to try and comfort myself.

“Devastated” was the only word with which I could have described myself. In a way things like this hurt more with age, as I’ve wondered how much time I even have left to make my dreams come true. While the pain felt unbearable, I reminded myself that eventually life ends for all of us; we just need to enjoy it as best as we can while we have the chance, especially considering that we only get one and there’s no telling when or how suddenly it could end.

Then it was easy to recall the film’s message. Just recently I was in the midst of an “urban exploration”-type adventure that I love when I remembered finding a way, in the midst of a pandemic making me so miserable, to spend a week in the Midwest and experience a litany of spooky attractions. Best part was in a random suburban neighborhood…on a vacant lot…behind a bunch of shrubbery and debris…discovering the remains of a once-glorious amusement park!

If I die tomorrow I may not have achieved any of my life’s big goals, but I will have had memories like that…which is what really matters. The movie’s whole message is that life’s joys come from such memories, not from achieving goals. My therapist had an interesting response when she agreed with that, saying that if you base your happiness on achieving goals then the target’s always moving.

I’ll point to a much older movie, that isn’t discussed much these days but which I loved and which was very profitable when it came out: Cool Runnings. I thought I was the only one that held onto the quote you see here as a mantra, but if you type in “Cool Runnings Gold “ then the autocomplete adds “Medal Quote”. There are also memes with it.

I’ll add one more source of wisdom: Garfield. He has depths you might not anticipate when you just see him tormenting Jon and Odie.

Getting back to Soul, I thought it would be a cliched (although still well done) story about a getting one last chance to live his dream before peacefully moving on to the next life, but it is SO.MUCH.MORE. The animation is beautiful, the imagination in the story floors you, and, despite the serious premise, the fish-out-of-water humor is plentiful.

A truly incredible film.

Bottom Line: The magic of Pixar at its finest.

Up Next: Another instant classic.

Questions? Comments? Feel free to write below.