Review of Cold Souls (2009) by Me M — 25 Feb 2010
DISCLAIMER to all main-stream movie fans: this is NOT a ha-ha funny movie with easily accessible fart jokes. It's not directed by Judd Apatow. If you've never seen a live theater play -- let alone Chekov's "Uncle Vanya" -- you may be confused.
Paul Giamotti plays a parody version of himself, upping the satirical ante on previous hysterical fiction like "Being John Malkovich" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.".
Giamotti's Giamotti (did I really just say that?) is a typical upper-class New Yorker writhing with self-doubt and fabricated angst. He isn't having a mid-life crisis so much as a mid-artist crisis.
Enter David Straithairn and the preposterous premise that people can have their souls "removed", like an appendix. Giamotti goes thru with it and immediately feels "empty" and numb ... sorta like Zoloft.
Eventually Russian smugglers appear and Giamotti is forced to go to Russia. "Cold Souls" is goofy, weird and highly inventive. It's also very funny in a up-scale New Yorker way. I enjoyed it.
This review of Cold Souls (2009) was written by Me M on 25 Feb 2010.
Cold Souls has generally received mixed reviews.
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