Cold Souls

Movie: Cold Souls

I saw it on: August 23, 2009

Cast: Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Emily Watson, Dina Korzun, Katheryn Winnick

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction, Dark Comedy

Synopsis: Paul Giamatti (played by Paul Giamatti) is rehearsing for a play.  Rehearsals are not going well.  Paul is upset about the play and in general is not a happy camper. He comes across a magazine article about the removal of souls.  He checks the yellow pages and sure enough, there is a section on “Soul Removers”.  Paul vists one of the companies and talks to Dr. Flinstein (David Strathairn) who explains the process.  He convinces Paul that getting rid of his soul will rid him of a huge burden and set him free.  It is Paul’s hope that it will also improve his acting.

So Paul gets his soul removed (and put into storage) – but he is unhappy with the results.  As the previews showed (so I am not really giving anything away), Paul’s soul goes missing – to Russia.  The movie follows Paul’s efforts to find a soul he likes and his mission to track down and recover his own soul.

My two cents: I really enjoyed this one.  Paul Giamatti is perfect in the role (and not just because he is playing himself).  The whole soul-removal premise is hysterically funny, but is treated seriously in the movie.  The sales pitch David Strathairn gives is priceless – as are his attempts to explain the disappearance of Paul’s soul.

If you like off-beat and dark humor – this is the movie for you.