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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

What is your soul worth to you? Is it worth putting in cold storage at a warehouse somewhere in New Jersey so you can live more carefree, or perform better in a play? Paul Giamatti, as Paul Giamatti, gambles with his soul and almost loses it in the lackluster comedy/drama Cold Souls.

Drowning in despair over his inability to portray a character from a Russian play, Giamatti (John Adams, The Illusionist) becomes desperate to satisfy his director's expectations. The possibility of relief comes when he reads an article in the New Yorker about soul storage.

Initially, Giamatti disbelieves the possibility of removing a soul from one's body, despite the reassurances of Dr. Flintstein (David Strathairn - The Bourne Ultimatum, We Are Marshall) who exhibits a childlike fascination with souls. In the end, the desire to perform well overcomes Giamatti's doubt and so he undergoes the bizarre, soul-removing procedure.


To his dismay, Giamatti cannot handle life without his soul. Furthermore, his concerned wife Claire (Emily Watson - Gosford Park, Angela's Ashes) feels like he's a different person. Getting his soul back isn't easy when it disappears to Russia where a black market in soul trafficking exists. His only hope is Flintstein's mule Nina (Russian actress Dina Korzun) who feels sorry for Giamatti.

Cold Souls is an often disjointed piece of cinema that attempts in vain to blend some dark humor into drama. It's an interesting concept, but it never really stirs any emotions one way or the other. While watching the film I couldn't help but wonder how much of the real Giamatti was reflected in the Giamatti he portrays on the screen. Could Paul Giamatti be as depressive and boring as the Paul Giamatti before and after he has his soul removed?

What's most disappointing is the wasted talents of Watson and Korzun. Watson is a brilliant, Oscar-nominated talent who is completely underutilized in a part that as it turns out is beneath her talents. The relatively unknown Korzun is mesmerizing in her role, but the depth of her character development is all too shallow.

The one powerful question that the unsatisfying Cold Souls does raise is, is how valuable are our souls? Are they priceless or would people actually sell them if they had the chance? And does Cold Souls try to make a case that we just simply fade into nothingness when we die? You'll have to be the judge for yourself if you see the film.

On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Cold Souls receives an C.
    
Cold Souls is rated PG-13 and has a running time of 99 minutes.

Now showing through October 8 @
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.