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COLD SOULS Send This Review to a Friend
“Cold Souls,” written and directed by Sophie Barthes, is the most way-out film seen in some time. It is also often hilarious. The situation involves Paul Giamatti as an actor who is having trouble getting into his role. Reading of a business of storing souls, he thinks this might be a help. He submits to a scanner-like machine that can extract a soul for storage, and then, as a result of an international scheme of selling and marketing souls, he is thwarted when trying to get his soul back.
Not only is the premise funny, but the film becomes a suspense-adventure yarn as well, all the while giving us a portrait of the increasingly frantic Giamatti trying to retrieve his soul. Beneath the surface intrigue lies a lesson about knowing what is important in life. The style of the film is low-key most of the time, as is the delightful humor.
Of course, one has to be willing to ride with the imagination—the idea that a soul can be a physical thing, and a tiny one at that, like a chickpea as Giamatti discovers—and that souls can be traded like commodities. There is also humor in who can get one’s soul. Giamtti beomes incensed that his is meant for a talent-less actress. Cast members adding to the fun include David Strathairn, Dina Korzun, Katheryn Winnick, Lauren Ambrose Emily Watson and Michael Tucker.
Give yourself up to the concept, and have a good time with this comedy with heart as well as soul. A Samuel Goldwyn Films release.
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