Product Details

• Actors: Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson, Dina Korzun, Armand Schultz, Michael Tucker
• Directors: Sophie Barthes
• Writers: Sophie Barthes
• Producers: Alexandre Mallet-Guy, Andrij Parekh, D.J. Martin, Daniel Carey, Elizabeth Giamatti
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: March 2, 2010
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003152YWI
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,999 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Cold Souls" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

COLD SOULS - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, March 21, 2010

By 

starspangledgirl "starspangledgirl" (Arlington, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cold Souls (DVD)

This movie has an outlandish premise in the vein of Being John Malkovich or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: your soul is a physical thing that is extractable, easily removed and returned. In addition, it is sometimes preferable to be without a soul for a while, or to borrow someone else's. It's not the premise that bothered me but the fact that the film did nothing with this concept: neither dark comedy nor insight into whether the soul is the essence of humanity. Some visually beautiful scenes, very good actors, and yet it all seemed flat and...soul-less. This film did make me want to see Uncle Vanya on stage, as I was reminded what a great play it is.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended ...., February 4, 2010

By 

J. Callahan (Baton Rouge, LA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Souls (DVD)

(Just watched this on Netflix, where it came out on 2/2/10. Why is it not yet available on Amazon? I think it says something when you give a DVD a Netflix-level commitment, then you immediately want to add it to your collection because it warrants repeated viewing.)

An actor named Paul Giamatti struggles with his performance as Uncle Vanya in a production of Checkov's play. As a possible cure to his internal struggles, his character ends up at a company specializing in the extraction and storage of a person's soul.

I won't say any more about the plot; there is a certain joy of discovery in "Cold Souls." Elements borrow from "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Being John Malkovich;" the film had a very Charlie Kaufman feel to it, but slightly more serious in tone and subtle in its humor. Also, as a fan of Mr. Giamatti's work, it was interesting to see allusions to his other films (the white room sequence recalled something similar in "Amercian Splendor").

In terms of the DVD, there are few extra features. Deleted scenes, a 5-minute short on the fabrication of the Soul Extractor, and trailers for other films. The absence of a commentary is a disappointment. I'm hoping that a Blu-Ray version includes more, and possibly I was watching an inferior "Netflix-only" version of the DVD.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lukewarm but well-shot, May 10, 2010

By 

Kevin F. Tasker (Athens, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cold Souls (DVD)

This movie was marketed at a comedy of sorts, but it is actually quite plodding and dour. Paul Giamatti plays a beleaguered NYC theater actor (named Paul Giamatti) who is having a hard time dealing with the psychological anxiety of playing the lead in Checkhov's seminal Uncle Vanya, so he enlists the help of a team of Soul-storers led by the excellent (yet dry) David Stratham. They remove his soul under the guise of making his life better, and for a while, it seems to work. Gradually, he realizes tht soullessness is no fun, as a soul makes you human. (there is also a vague subplot concerning the Russian mob and similarly murky dream sequences involving old greying corpse-like men and small children that play like watered-down David Lynch) The film progresses like a slower version of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, without the love-story angle or exciting visuals...and really, come to think about it, without the interesting characters involved in the whole scheme of muddling with intangibility (Tom Wilkinson, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood and Kirsten Dunst equalled out Jim Carrey's sadness in that film, here there is no comic relief...just more mopey, flat characters like the Russian girl) There is a pretty drab blue, smoky color palate at work here, and a lot of talented character actors doing their cold, straight-man routines. There are a lot of scenes of Giamatti just staring off at things in a faux-existential stupor. This tactic, while it reinforces his soulless ennui, is painfully slow. Occasional humor permeates the cloud of despondence, as when Paul admits to his wife that he has been turned into a empty, staggering vessel, or when (soulless) his Uncle Vanya takes on a brash, kooky aspect. Otherwise the film is morose, yet admirably well-lit. Intriguing internal conflict aside, there is a serious lack of momentum as well as memorable scenes.