And Here's Another Review of a Movie That Should Have Opened in a Theater

 
Yeah, that's a mouthful of a title for a blog post.   But what else can we do in these days?

"Soul" began streaming on Christmas Day via Disney Plus and the Oscar buzz almost began immediately.   Then I heard raves all over social media.   Okay, my sofa was open.

Now, let me first preface this.   I am not a fan of Pixar movies.   The only franchise I really liked was "Toy Story."   The rest I have found boring.   And the constant need they feel to diversify the lead characters is nothing more than gratuitous.  And, given that the main person of "Soul" is a Black jazz musician/middle school band teacher, I figured this was another in a long line of Pixar flicks that I would not like.

Well, I did like "Soul" a bit more.   Not to the hysterical bouts of joyous frenzy I have read on Facebook.  But it did have some merit, albeit grossly overrated by those who think every movie with a Black character is an automatic Oscar contender.

Indeed, "Soul" really isn't that much of an original idea.   Have you seen "Here Comes Mr. Jordan?"  Or "Heaven Can Wait?"  Or "It's a Wonderful Life" for Pete's sake?  Well, "Soul" is nothing more than throwing all those movies into my new Cuisinart food processor and coming out with something that does nothing more than provide the filling for a cinematic sausage.

Jamie Foxx provides the voice for "Joe," the aforementioned musician/teacher.  On a big day in his life, he falls into a manhole and begins his trek to the Great Beyond, which comes off sounding very much like a Montessori school.  Is he dead or just in a holding pattern?  "Soul" does get a little confusing at times.   

Eventually, Joe is assigned to mentor an infant soul going in the other direction to begin life on Earth.   Tina Fey plays "22" and is amusing for the first time that I can remember.   Somehow, they wind up back on the planet but she's in his old body and he's now a cat.   Don't look for explanations.  None are provided.

Eventually, there's a message conveyed that life is what you make of it.  It ends.  And then...wait...it ends again.   And then...wait...it ends one more time. Whenever that happens in movies, you know that the writers were undecided how to wrap it up so they wind up using all three ideas.  

The good news is that, unlike all the other holiday season releases that I have viewed on a plethora of streaming services, I did not fall asleep during "Soul."  That alone is worthy of the following rating:

LEN'S RATING:  Three stars.

Dinner last night:  Beef tri-tip.