Welcome to a movie I felt like I've seen before. Think of Eternal Sunshine [memory erasure vs. soul extraction] meets Synecdoche, NY [overpowering physical ailments] plus Charlie Kaufman's alter ego Nick Cage in Adaptation who has anxieties. Basically, this movie's got all the shpilkes of Charile Kaufman plus the shpilkes and narcissism of Woody Allen. That's not to say Paul isn't likeable and complex, let alone kind of looking a bit better than ugly since he's rockin that beard.
Obviously, Sophie Barthes [the director and probably Roland Barthes's cousin or granddaughter] likes Kaufman movies, but so do people who only consume liquid mustard. Lots of people like old Charlie. This is not enough of a reason to like this movie. And I'm still not all clear on how I feel about it. I definitely like the concept of being able to remove one's soul because it's getting to heavy, man. And I like the idea that soul trafficking is a business maybe inspired by a certain band that we like. Unfortunately, I don't love Paul's character in this movie because we don't get to know him all that well. I thought too much focus was placed on the business of soul trafficking in Russia. Luckily, a pivotal Russian actress was in this movie, so I was happy. Plus it had Lauren Ambrose and David Strathairn!
Obviously, Sophie Barthes [the director and probably Roland Barthes's cousin or granddaughter] likes Kaufman movies, but so do people who only consume liquid mustard. Lots of people like old Charlie. This is not enough of a reason to like this movie. And I'm still not all clear on how I feel about it. I definitely like the concept of being able to remove one's soul because it's getting to heavy, man. And I like the idea that soul trafficking is a business maybe inspired by a certain band that we like. Unfortunately, I don't love Paul's character in this movie because we don't get to know him all that well. I thought too much focus was placed on the business of soul trafficking in Russia. Luckily, a pivotal Russian actress was in this movie, so I was happy. Plus it had Lauren Ambrose and David Strathairn!
4/5 pizzas
so you didn't like it, maybe, but it gets 4 out of 5.
ReplyDeletefour out of five!?
I haven't seen it yet.
The original title of this movie was actually Being Paul Giamatti but Charlie Kaufman was pooping himself too much and no one knew if it was because he was excited and flattered or just upset. But either way, they decided to go with Cold Souls to make him stop.
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