This is a quirky movie somewhat similar in tone and concept to Being John Malkovitch. Paul Giamatti plays an actor named Paul Giamatti who is having trouble with the emotions of his work. He finds out about a service that will extract your soul and store it for you, somehow lightening your spiritual load. When Giamatti sees what his work would be like while he lives with the soul of another person for awhile he realizes that his own soul was probably good enough for him all along. He goes back to the firm again to have his old soul re-installed, but finds out it is missing. It has been stolen and taken back to Russia, from where many of the 'rental souls' come.
This is a very high-concept idea and very clever. It doesn't waste much time at all in the explanation of the science, instead putting the focus on the characters and situations. Giamatti is perfect for this movie as he's an actor one can see might actually do this (if he could).
The art direction is great and the interiors of the soul storage company are modern and fantastic. The soul extracting machine is a beautiful architectural detail - that looks even better in a dark and cruddy Russian warehouse.
I like the concept of this movie - that you can live a happy life without a soul or with the soul of another person. I also love the idea that's explained here that there's always a residue left when extracting a soul.
I do think the script gets a bit weak in the third act and begins to drag there. I also think the ending is a bit of a cop-out, considering the elegance of the first act. Still, I really love the long, contemplative feeling that pervades the movie. Seeing Giamatti on a bench staring off into space for several minutes at a time might not work normally, but does well here.
This is a fun and interesting movie, if not entirely successful.
Stars: 2.5 of 4
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