Movie Review: Cold Souls

Cold Souls will at first remind movie goers a bit of Being John Malkovich in that this is an abstract idea for a film, but this movie lacks the brilliant screenplay of Being John Malkovich. Paul Giamatti plays himself (or his version of himself), cast in the title role of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya”. Actor Giamatti feels tortured by the role, unable to find the lightheartedness of the character and bogged down by emotions, feeling enveloped in tragedy and dark thoughts. Giamatti is at the end of his rope with his role in the soon to open play when he sees an article in the New Yorker magazine touting an experimental process that removes someone’s soul and places it in storage. Not only that, souls can be placed in other bodies, in fact choosing another calmer soul to inhabit yourself is an option. The soul storage idea intrigues Giamatti and he visits the soul storage office to find out more about it. To play along with the Russian Chekhov play, a sub-plot of Russian souls is intermixed in the story.

The idea of the screenplay is interesting but it let me down. As dark as the story is I think the humor really needed to be in the forefront of the story. The speed of the movie is a bit slow, not taking full advantage of the comic situations. Paul Giamatti is excellent and his performance hits the comic points of the movie, working well with the clever moments as best he can with an otherwise flat screenplay. The supporting cast is very good and another reason to watch this film.

I wanted to like this film more than I did. I have to applaud the effort of the director/screenwriter and Giamatti for taking a chance on this idea and sharing it on film. If you like independent films and appreciate quirky movies this one may be up your alley.

2009. Written and directed by Sophie Barthes. Starring Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, David Strathairn and Lauren Ambrose.

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