Cold Souls

What if you could remove your soul for a day? How would it feel? No regrets, no remorse, no inhibitions about anything. Would you embrace it? Or, would the experience just leave you cold inside?
Cold Souls is small science fiction at its best, challenging audiences by presenting them with an impossible opportunity – the chance to remove your soul. The film is written and directed by first-time filmmaker Sophie Barthes who earns her stripes by crafting a thoughtful, albeit, slow paced drama about the very nature of what makes us human.

Playing himself is Paul Giamatti, a fantastic character actor with a career hallmarked by interesting work. Souls gives us a more rundown and depressed version of Giamatti as he struggles to capture Anton Chekhov’s character Uncle Vanya for a production he will be starring in of the same name. On the recommendation of a friend, he reads a piece in the New Yorker about a company that will store souls. He goes to the clinic on Roosevelt Island and, after a long conversation with Dr. Flintstein (a wonderful David Strathairn), decides to give it a try. Initially, Giamatti sees his situation worsen and decides to try trading souls with an anonymous donor. The switch leaves him feeling unsatisfied as well. When he returns to the clinic to finally retrieve his own soul he finds it missing. Eventually he learns that it’s been sent to Russia and, with the help of a human “mule” named Nina (Dina Korzun), he travels there to get it back.

Much like the memory erasing in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind there is little mention about the science behind the removal of one’s soul. A great gag throughout the film is that the appearance of a person’s soul can never be determined until it’s out of them. Giamatti’s soul (much to his chagrin) winds up resembling your everyday chickpea.

Souls is a slow film, classically European and classically Russian in its pacing and reveal. More than once the film seems to drag on with lots of shots of Giamatti just sitting around. For those that don’t mind such a style you’ll find many of the shots beautiful, those that do would be better off seeing something else. Still, if you give the movie the time it needs to unfurl its message (and believe me there is a message) you’ll find it a clever, funny and refreshing watch. Not to mention, it has one of the coolest looking brain scan machines ever.

DVD Special Features:

Soul Extractor 5000, Deleted Scenes, Trailers

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Emily Watson, David Straithairn, Dina Korzun, Katheryn Winnick
Director: Sophie Barthes
Runtime: 97 Minutes
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Rating: PG-13

Comments

There are no comments.

To comment on this article login or register.

More Reviews

'Girls' Blu-Ray: Witty Woes Of White Girls

12/21/2012
‘Paranorman’ DVD Is A Ghostly Treat

12/19/2012
'Expendables 2' DVD: Senseless Fun With The Senior Set

12/10/2012
'Desperate Housewives Season 8': A Last Visit To Wisteria Lane

10/26/2012
These Are Not 'People Like Us'

10/26/2012
'Marley' Sings Praises Of A Legend

10/15/2012

CelebSelect

Danielle Panabaker's Top Pop Picks
- Favorite Band: The Avett Brothers
  
  "I'm really into the Avett Brothers as of late."
- Favorite Book: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  
  "My girlfriends are I - we are very nerdy. We started a book club and the first book we read was Gone Girl."
- Favorite New Movie: Silver Linings Playbook
  
  "I thought it was a great film and I thought Jennifer Lawrence was incredible, you know those angry tears, I've certainly experienced that."
Paul Van Dyk: Current Favorites
- School of the Seven Bells
  
  The New York-based band unites Benjamin Curtis of "Secret Machines" and Alejandra Deheza. Formed in 2007, the duo is named after a mythical South American pickpocket training academy of the same name.
- Linkin Park
  
  The Californian rock veterans have come a long way since 'Hybrid Theory.' Back now with their fifth studio album in over a decade, 'Living Things' is one of Paul Van Dyck's favorite albums this year.
- Jupiter Jones
  
  The German punk rock band formed in 2002, but has already released several LPs, including an eponymously-named album in 2011.
- Depeche Mode
  
  The legendary Essex electronic band from the 80s remains a classic for Van Dyk. It was also recently among 'Q' magazine's "50 Bands That Changed The World!".
Cody Simpson
- Favorite Movie
  I'm still really into the Ocean's series. I got into them recently. I was always too young to watch them.
- Favorite Book
  This book called Contest by Matthew Reilly, he's an Australian author.
- Favorite Album
  Drake's Take Care — big fan of that
- Favorite TV Show
  The Mentalist
Styx's Lawrence Gowan
- Bossypants by Tina Fey
  
  "That’s got me laughing hysterically on airplanes."
- Making Mirrors by Goyte
  
  "I thought that was a tremendous record."
- The Artist
  
  "It really impressed me."
- Keane
  
  "They’re really strong."
90210's Michael Steger: My Favorite Stuff
- Favorite TV Show: Rome
  
  HBO's series starring Cirian Hinds
- Favorite Album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
  
  "Either that or The Gypsy Kings."
- Favorite Book: The Fountainhead
  
  "Probably my favorite book of all time."
- Favorite New Movie: Attack The Block
  
  “It reminded me of The Goonies.”