Coco

It seems like with every subsequent film, Pixar is upping it's game in terms of the films it makes. The studio's latest offering, Coco, is easily one of the studio's best. Filled with some of the most breathtaking animation I've seen, some magnificent music and a genuinely moving story, this is easily one of my favorite Pixar films and I only just saw it. 

Miguel Rivera (played by Anthony Gonzalez) lives with his family in a small Mexican town where his family runs a small shoe factory. His family has had a generations long ban on music, dating back to when his Great Great Grandfather, a talented musician, left his family to pursue his singing career. Left on her own, his Great Great Grandmother Imelda (played by Alanna Ubach) banned music in the household and founded the shoemaking business to support her family. This ban has continued through the generations until young Miguel, who has a burning desire to be a musician. The town is having a talent show as part of the Day of the Dead celebrations and Miguel decides to enter, unbeknownst to his family. In need of a guitar, he decides to break into the tomb of deceased singing celebrity Ernesto de la Cruz (played by Benjamin Bratt), a musician Miguel idolizes and has recently discovered is his Great Great Grandfather who left all those years ago, to borrow his guitar, which occupies the tomb with him. Because of this, Miguel finds himself transported to the Land of the Dead, cursed for stealing from the deceased on the day gifts are meant to be given to them. He soon finds his deceased relatives, including Great Great Grandmother Imelda, and finds out his curse can be lifted if he's blessed by a deceased relative. Imelda is willing to give that blessing on the condition he give up music. Unwilling to compromise, Miguel runs off into the Land of the Dead, determined to find Ernesto de la Cruz, who he is certain will give him the blessing he needs without requiring he give up his dream of being a musician. He teams up with the loner Hector (played by Gael Garcia Bernal), who once performed with Ernesto and can help get Miguel into the big party Ernesto throws every year on Day of the Dead. But they need to hurry, because if Miguel doesn't break the curse by the next sunrise, he'll be among the dead forever. 

There is so much to love about this movie, I am not sure where to start. The heart of any good film is it's story and this film has a great one. It hits many of the familiar beats of Disney and Pixar films, but manages to find enough new material to keep things fresh and interesting. The screenplay by Adrian Molina and Matthew Aldrich finds the heart of their story and it shines brightly throughout the film. They really craft a group of characters that I found myself genuinely caring about. Then it is paired with some of the most gorgeous animation I've seen in quite some time. From the design of the Land of the Dead to the glowing orange of the Aztec Marigold flowers that make up the bridge from the Land of the Living to the Land of the dead, it all just looked breathtaking. The film's directors, Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina, did a fantastic job bringing the world of this film to life. 

For a film where music plays a central role, they did a great job with the music for the film with original songs by Adrian Molina as well as Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, with the main reoccurring song, "Remember Me", reappearing at least four times in the film but the interesting thing is what they do with it. Normally, in movies like this the main song like this starts off slower and grows with each time you hear it until it's the big music number and this film smartly does the reverse, with the first time you hear it, it's this big musical number performed by Ernesto de la Cruz, and then as the film goes on the song becomes softer, slower and ultimately more meaningful. The film also has a lovely score by Michael Giacchino that ties everything together nicely.          

When it comes to Pixar, they always cast their films incredibly well, finding the right voice for each character. The have an incredible find for their main character in Anthony Gonzalez, who not only voices the character but also does all his own singing as well and does a fantastic job at both. Gael Garcia Bernal is wonderful as Hector, giving his character great hidden depths while also doing a great job playing to the more humorous aspects of the character. Benjamin Bratt is great as Ernesto de la Cruz, capturing the sort of larger than life aspects of the character who is an incredibly famous singer both in the Land of the Living and the Land of the Dead. Alanna Ubach gives a good deal of depth to her character as well, one that could have been a one note stick in the mud thankfully isn't as the film goes on and develops her character as well, showing clearly why banning music in her house made sense, something that carried through subsequent generations. 

Coco is a marvelous film that really captures Mexican culture incredibly well (or so I've been told). Even beyond the Day of the Dead traditions, it has nods to Mexican history and culture all over the place, with various deceased Mexican making appearances in the Land of Dead, notably Frida Kahlo. Furthermore, they are actually having screenings of the film with the Spanish language track in addition to the English one, which I think is awesome. I did see the English language version of the film, but I am tempted to see it again in Spanish (there are screenings with English Subtitles). If not, I will definitely give it a try when I get the Blu-Ray. Regardless, the film at it's core is a deeply touching story of family and how important it can be to people as well as just being a fun adventure story. It's a film I give my heartiest recommendation to and am confident it will be on my list of favorite films of the year. I encourage everyone to not only see it, but see it in a theatre.