Kind of. The pure inventiveness of “Soul” makes it impossible to spoil, but because it is dedicated to surprise, to the improvisational qualities of existence, I want to step lightly. Suffice it to say that Joe finds himself suddenly transported from Manhattan to limbo, where he meets a rebellious soul known as 22, who speaks in Tina Fey’s voice.
Not yet attributed to a definite human form, 22 chose that voice for its irritating qualities, and it spent much of eternity driving everyone crazy – except for the Jerry, who have infinite patience (and speak in the soft tones of Wes Studi, Alice Braga and Richard Ayoade). There is also someone named Terry (Rachel House), the resident bean counter, who is a more thorny and as villainous character as this gentle, melancholy fantasy needs.
In any case, 22 sees no sense in going down to Earth to take up residence in a body. Joe is desperate to get back to his own, and their complementary and conflicting desires send them back to Earth in a prank of changed identity. Each is the other’s crazy helper, and each teaches the other valuable lessons.
The film’s didacticism is sincere, not unpleasant and inseparable from its art. Jazz, far from being incidental to “Soul”, is an integral part of his argument about how beauty is created, sustained and appreciated – and to underpin a specifically black experience in New York.
Joe’s playing is energetic and serene and takes him to an area that is spiritually literalized as an area between Earth and the spirit world. (Other visitors to this preliminary region include a corner mystic named Moonwind, voiced by Graham Norton). Jon Batiste’s lovely jazz compositions take turns with the subtle cerebral score of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, building a sound bridge between the sensual and the abstract, the physical and the metaphysical.
Like other Pixar films, “Soul” is aware of its own paradoxes. The Toy Story cycle is a humanist epic about inanimate objects. “Inside Out” is an exuberant fable about the importance of sadness. This is an extremely ambitious warning against taking ambition too seriously. Each soul, explain the Jerry, has a spark that sends it to the world. Joe and 22 understand that this means that everyone has a single purpose, a mistake that reflects a competitive and careerist ideology that the film cannot fully deny.
Even so, it is open to other possibilities, which can be everything that any work of art can be. “Soul” tries, within the imperatives of commercial branded entertainment, to create an identity for itself as something other than a blockbuster or a technologically revolutionary masterpiece. It is a small and delicate film that does not reach all the notes perfectly, but its combination of skill, feeling and inspiration is summed up in the title.
Soul
PG rated. Mortality. Execution time: 1 hour and 40 minutes. Watch on Disney +.