Soul

Depending upon who you are, and how you feel about your life, some of this story may hit a little too close to home. In a more general view, a lot of this movie may be difficult for viewers to get traction with, as a sizable part of the concept here involves characters who are abstractions, and abstraction is notoriously difficult for many people to relate to. Or perhaps that’s just this viewer trying to grasp at reasons why this film stayed somewhat at arm’s length from him, despite there being plenty of relatable emotional content herein. Maybe it’s due to the fact that I personally have never really appreciated jazz that this flick fails to completely crack my exterior. What also doesn’t help is the ending—it reeks of falsity; it seems like a decision was made to tack on a final note that was added on in order to make the ending “happier,” even though the honest ending would not have been all that sad, and is even hinted at in the earlier dialogue. I don’t know; there’s a lot of plus and minus here, all mixed up—but I’m conscious enough of my own personal failings here that I will give this work a pass, count it as a guarded MEOW, and leave it at that. Other than that, you’ll have to find this work's purpose for yourself.