Cold Souls: DVD Review
Cold Souls
Released by Madman
Rating: M
Paul Giamatti (complete with sad sack eyes and jowly cheeks)
plays Paul Giamatti, a fictionalized version of the actor, who's
struggling with his part in Uncle Vanya. Clearly Chekhov's play is
resting heavy on him - and one day, he sees an ad for a Soul
Storage place which piques his curiosity.
So, with the ad's slogan "Is your soul weighing you down?" he heads
to see if he can find some relief.
What he actually finds is a surgery which can remove souls and hold
them in special units (or if they want to avoid tax, can be shipped
to New Jersey) to give their owners a new lease of life.
Giamatti undergoes the treatment - and things get more complicated
for him when a soul trafficking group from Russia ends up stealing
his soul to satiate a Mafioso style don's girlfriend. Giamatti ends
up facing the possibility of heading to St Petersburg or remaining
soulless for the rest of his life.
What can you say about Cold Souls? It's slightly odd, slightly
heart warming and entirely different. Once again, Giamatti shows
why he's a talented actor and wins over the audience with this
existential type role which could have backfired.
It's an interesting premise which is well executed (aside from
feeling a little long at the end) but Cold Souls offers up some
interesting ethical and soulful dilemmas.
Rating: 6/10
