Who would have thought the human soul looked an awful lot like a chick pea?
“Cold Souls,” a sly new sci-fi comedy, tracks the journey of an exasperated actor seeking comfort from an all too demanding role - and profession.
His solution comes from a soul-sucking company promising to alleviate his woes for a modest fee.
It’s a nifty concept for a movie, arguably 2009’s most original presentation. If only the film tapped the story’s darker side - or humorous blowback - with more intensity.
“Cold Souls,” available for rent now and on sale March 2, casts Paul Giamatti as … Paul Giamatti, the critically acclaimed actor.
Paul is rehearsing for a key role in “Uncle Vanya,” and the pressure to create an intense performance is causing him concern.
So when he reads about a local company which allows people to remove - and store - their souls he decides to take a leap of faith.
Maybe he wouldn’t have to deal with actorly angst if his soul sat in a jar. But the process is not without risk, and that’s before he learns of a soul smuggling operation out of Russia.
Don’t be fooled by “Cold Souls’” science fiction trappings. The plot is just an excuse to meditate - and mock - the art of acting and why it’s important to embrace our flaws.
Without a soul, an actor can’t act. But Paul seems repulsed when he compares stage work to - gasp - a gig on a soap opera.
Writer/director Sophie Barthes brings a light touch to the comedic moments, and Giamatti nails each one with a grace that belies his dramatic chops. Other potentially humorous asides escape Barthes, as does the chance to crank up the darkness on a story begging for something … more.
The film lacks a driving energy, and the sight of Paul staring wistfully into the distance, at his own reflection or at a Russian skyline can be ponderous when taken in total. One wishes for more of Giamatti’s home life, and the actor doesn’t veer too far from his screen persona to make the performance satirically satisfying.
It helps to have David Strathairn playing the corporate face behind the soul storage company. He plays every scene blessedly straight, anchoring the sillier science fiction moments while providing a straight man to Paul’s increasingly anxious creation.
“Cold Souls” offers a head blendy of sci-fi trickery wrapped in social commentary, including how foreign countries exploit stateside hunger, but only at their own peril. And any film that can boil down the human essence into something resembling a chick pea is worth popping into one’s DVD player.
(Photo: David Strathairn and Paul Giamatti ponder the soul in the new indie release “Cold Souls.”/)
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I'm an award-winning journalist and film critic with more than a decade of experience in newspapers, magazines and the Web. I'm a member of both the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association and the Denver Film Critics Society.
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