Customer Reviews

Cold Souls

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

(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.

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.

I'm a huge fan of Paul Giamatti, so I couldn't resist when I saw a DVD promising a roll-on-the-floor comedic performance. Sadly, this movie didn't live up to its billing. Admittedly there were a few parts of the story (mostly toward the beginning) that had us laughing out loud, but they were too few and far between to justify the claims on the label. The longer the story went on, the less funny it became, and most of the second half barely got a chuckle out of us.

While the premise of the story was novel and certainly held out some promise for a solid comedy, most of the movie was just plain dark, depressing and surreal. Much of it is set in Russia, which is depressing enough by itself. The themes are dark. The suicide of a marginal character is dark. The use of lighting is, well, dark. Yes, there are some places where it works and evokes some laughs, but the rest of the movie just doesn't work -- unless you have an extremely dry, somewhat twisted sense of humor. To his credit, Giamatti's usual stellar performance was the one bright spot. Not recommended for most viewers.

Paul Giamatti plays himself in this film. It is an incredibly inventive story line.

In preparing to perform a character, Paul decides he needs to unburden himself from his soul. He finds a clinic that specializes in just that. Unfortunately, this clinic also does underground soul "adoptions" with an unregulated Russian company. The Russian mule winds up stealing Paul's locked away soul and implanting it in a Russian soap-opera actress. By this time, Paul has realized that he cannot be himself without his soul and the search ensues.

There are plenty of laughs. There are a few dark moments, and I was disappointed that the soul of "Olga" is never detailed more thoroughly. It was an entertaining film. I was looking forward to how all of the characters were going to finally tie in together, but I just don't think they knew how to end it. It pretty much leaves you to your own imagination. Some people don't like movies that end that way, but I didn't mind.

I rented this movie "soul-y" because I love Paul Giamatti. And because the picture on the cover reminded me of his character in one of my favorite movies - Sideways. But that's where the similarities between these two movies end.

I was disappointed with this movie for many reasons. First, the DVD cover has raves from some movie reviewers claiming how side-splittingly funny this flick is. Huh? I can't remember laughing once, let alone snickering. Ironically, I found the funniest moment in one of the deleted scenes (the one where Giamatti is rehearsing a scene and is told to act it like the wind). This is not a comedy. Not even a black comedy - which I would have welcomed.

Second, though Giamatti's character looks like it was pulled directly from Sideways (complete with the bad brown corduroy blazer), that's where the similarities end. He appeared uncomfortable and self-conscious in his scenes and didn't seem to believe in the premise of the movie or the dialog.

Third, well, the movie is just flat. You immediately are reminded by the premise of Being John Malkovich. But Malkovich somehow made you accept its incredible premise; Cold Souls did not. And if you don't buy into the gimmicky basis of the plot, then you are going to have a tough time taking the rest of the movie seriously.

The movie left me feeling so gypped that I scoured the bonus features for something to enjoy. The deleted scenes were ok but the documentary on the design of the soul removal machine was ridiculous. The guys who designed it went on and on about their artistic influences for its look. Like they just created the Pieta. Wha? The thing looked like the love child of an MRI machine and the Michelin man. There was nothing impressive about its appearance. The designers should start looking for work in a different field.

So to summarize: very disappointed, but I'll forgive Giamatti this one time...

Civilization and its discontents. Paul, an actor preparing for "Uncle Vanya" on Broadway, is mired in ennui. His agent tells him about an office where he can put his soul in storage. He does so then discovers that being soulless helps neither his acting nor his marriage; he returns to the office and rents, for two weeks, the soul of a Russian poet. His acting improves, but his wife finds him different, he sees bits of the borrowed soul's life, and he's now deep in sorrow. He wants his own soul back, but there are complications: it's in St. Petersburg. With the help of Nina, a Russian who transports souls to the U.S., he determines to get it back. Despite the heavy subject matter, an abundance of absurdity and wit make "Cold Souls" amusing as well as thought-provoking. Though the tone is dark, it is not suffocatingly so Barthes pokes fun at existential torment while seriously grappling with it at the same time. Giamatti is great as the "actor much like himself" and Strathairn and Korzun provide excellent support. The writing is solid, though the pacing is a little uneven, I felt the movie begins and wraps up a little too quickly. Overall "Cold Souls" is definitely worth watching.

Like the previous reviewer, I wonder why Amazon has this slated for a March release? I've watched it three times already, having rented it from a video outlet.

In any event, anyone who admires the precision and intensely sharp work of Paul Giamatti should find this a great primer on acting. As the film shows, when "actor Paul Giamatti" suffers from the burdensome weight of rehearsing Chekhov's *Uncle Vanya* he enlists the services of an entrepreneurial operation which puts souls in cold storage. The result of a "soulless actor" is hilarious (though in interviews Giamatti swears he's not channeling William Shatner's much-parodied histrionics).

As always, Giamatti's performance is Academy Award material, casting nuances and fascinating acting choices at every turn. Ably coupled with Emily Watson and a fine supporting cast, this film, in my mind, suffers only in a couple areas--much of the film is visually dark, heavily shadowed on the DVD, and people who approach it thinking (rightfully so) that it's a bang-up comedy might find it slow going.

But I would submit the pacing is just right for this material: Soul extraction is not just played for laughs, though there are many to be enjoyed [The film is a scathing satire of the free market gone horribly wrong; see the novel *Jennifer Government* by Maxx Barry for a more free-wheeling examination of this idea]. This is a poignant Ecce-Homo-meets-Memento-Mori film whose ending begs for discussion.

Knowing it was partially filmed in Russia heightened my enjoyment of the film and added an extra dimension to the drab existential "aloneness" that one of the key players exhibited. And knowing Boris Leskin knows no English added powerful verisimilitude to the production. Though the film (again, quite rightly) is being compared to Charlie Kaufman's work, for me *Cold Souls* offered much more heart and hope than any of CK's work, which usually leaves me entertained but cold-souled.

Despite its rather measured pacing, somewhat dark transfer, and the soul extractor's appearance (to me) as an oversized roll of Cottonelle, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and recommend it to anyone who wants to think a bit while enjoying a few great performances.

I rented this movie because I enjoy the acting of Paul Giamatti. I read the reviews and the phrases "Flat out funny" and "You'll laugh till it hurts" caught my eye. I couldn't make it past 48 minutes of this god awful and boring movie. In those first 48 minutes I think might have mildly chuckled for a split second. Peter Travers must have smoked some bad crack before he watched this. The plot is slow moving and convoluted. I didn't make it to the end so I cannot comment on that. Trust me on this....THIS MOVIE WILL NOT MAKE YOU LAUGH! You've been warned!

What starts off as a somewhat promising concept of a company that extracts a persons soul for their own personal benefits, quickly takes all of the wrong turns into a film with a whole lot to say, and not a lot talking going on. Sure the film borrows. It borrows a lot. The whole concept of a 'real-life' actor having his soul being used by another person could certainly remind you of 'Being John Malkovich' as well as many of the themes of that particular film. The chair in which a soul is extracted reminds one of 'Eternal Sunshine' and even the scenes with Paul talking to the doctor, remind of the interaction between Jason Schwartzman and Dustin Hoffman in 'I Heart Huckabees'. But from what this film borrows from those existential dramedys, it really doesn't give much room for it's own ideas.

For instance, the entire soul-running gambit in Russia seemed a bit uninteresting when it should have been intriguing, and Paul Giamatti had plenty of instances to show some comedic brilliance (one funny scene is when he is overacting for his play), but unfortunately those opportunities never come into fruition. Serious when it should've been surreal, dramatic when it should've been funny, there are just too many moments where the film should've gone one way, and then opts for an uninteresting direction. The concept, like I said, leaves so much room for all sorts of great paradoxes and quandaries dealing with personal identity and even of 'what a soul really is' (which no one even bothers to find out). You could equate how this film deals with a guy losing his soul, as with a guy losing all of his personal belongings in a storage facility while moving, and then spends the entire film trying to get his stuff back. We see nothing of interest as to how people are really connected to their souls or what or why or how or anything. It's all treated very surface.

I wanted to like this film. In fact I watched the first 20 mins a while back, and finally decided to give it another go, but the first 20 mins were way more exciting, poignant and comedic than anything else that followed in the duration. To see potential like this wasted really flattens my pleasure centers, so I'll just say I felt a bit 'cold' watching Cold Souls. Actually, I felt downright frigid.