Carole LieberWilkins
This sweet film is poignant and true. The script speaks to the heart of most of our families--flawed, struggling, yet enduring. Maggie Baird is illuminating as the mom of three sons, one of whom is a floundering 14 year old who is depressed, sullen, and withdrawn. As she rediscovers an old passion for guitar, singing and song writing, her son, played by her real life son, Phinneas, discovers he, too, is passionate about, and talented as a singer/songwriter. He begins to come out of his shell; he emerges as someone who feels he has value; and he sees and appreciates his mother in ways most 14 year old sons can't.Through humor and simplicity of story telling, we become a part of this family. We feel their financial struggle. We love the long term marriage of the parents, still so committed, yet winding their way through these muddy middle years. We relate to the sibling relationships. We so deeply feel the anxiety and isolation of adolescence. And when perseverance and unrelenting mother love and support help them both to find their way, our hearts soar with their discoveries.
The Movie Guys
"Life Inside Out" is a story that anyone can relate to. How far do you take a dream? Laura, the main character, re-discovers an old passion - songwriting, which has previously taken a back seat to raising a large family. But the core of the film is how that pursuit of that dream draws her closer to her family, specifically her moody son. The film lays out characters that act truthfully towards one another in a plot that also strives for realism over showy theatrics and lame movie conventions. The direction by Jill D'Agnenica is calculatedly unobtrusive in its style, yet she draws good performances out of the actors, especially Maggie Baird and David Cowgill. Along the way, there's humor and warmth, making this a "Life" worth examining!
zaftig00
When I left the movie theater, I was greeted by co-stars Maggie Baird and her son (in the movie and life) Finneas O'Connell. I looked at Finneus like he was some kind of soul-mate and blurted out in amazement "You made a movie about me and my son!!" He just smiled and said "Everyone says that".I was literally stunned when the movie ended and I realized the characters on the screen were not actually me, my son, and my husband. I am still not able to get it into my mind that I don't at east know these people very well.Even my 14 year old son, who is usually a brutal critic said they got it right. The movie made me cry often but not in an obvious manipulated way. I was captivated by how true the many powerful moments were. Nothing took me out of the depth of the moment until the film concluded.By true, I mean that they have captured those private lonely feelings we go about our lives not sharing, not knowing how to share, and maybe not even seeing ourselves. Then we see them on the screen and our private sadness is shared. It's a feeling of connection and understanding.It's as if you ate nothing but hyped-up McDonalds meals your whole life and never questioned that they were great, until one day when you actually tasted real food! I hope there will be another film by this team, but wonder if anything could top this for what it is. It's not so much a story as a truth. It's real food, not formula.
Marianne Choquet
This film is deeply moving, joyful, hopeful, real, tender, fun - it celebrates the best of humanity through the rich elements of unity, support, beauty, love, sincerity, creativity and it demonstrates the power of creativity and expression to connect people to each other and themselves. It is always fantastic to see a daring and loving woman over 40 become more of who she already is. The cherry on the cake is the music, and even more cherries are each collaboration between mother and son. The movie itself is a song of loving life. Maggie Baird does an incredible job as a best actress, in every right. This is the exactly the kind of film the world needs more of and it deserves a world-wide audience. Excellence in writing, directing, cinematography, soundtrack, and acting. Flawless, really.
AD
