I was lucky enough to see an advance screening of this about two months ago, before it was sent to festivals.
I thought the film had some really interesting concepts with an intriguing and surrealistic story. However, there are several areas where it falls flat, and it just doesn't seem to reach its full potential.
WHAT I LIKED - The concept is very interesting, and the story is intriguing. Basically, you have a company which has found a way to separate the soul from the body and store it for you, allowing you to lead a guilt-free and soul-free life. I thought the idea of the soul as a tangible object was interesting and I found the films conception of this surrealistic idea intriguing.
WHAT WAS OFF FOR ME - The director doesn't seem to have a clear conception of what the soul represents or what it is. This becomes a problem for Paul Giamatti because we really don't see him behave all that much differently without his soul than he does with his soul. The movie really dances around what the soul might represent, but doesn't get there, leading to a little bit of fragmentation in the plot and a lot of logic questions.
Altogether, the film is good. If you're looking for some intellectual humor and some interesting concepts, this is a great film to watch. There are a bunch of things which were a little off-putting, but the film has lots of interesting concepts, surreal imagery, and ideas which make you think about the nature of yourself and the nature of humanity.
6/10. It's not perfect, but it has a lot of interesting concepts.
I thought the film had some really interesting concepts with an intriguing and surrealistic story. However, there are several areas where it falls flat, and it just doesn't seem to reach its full potential.
WHAT I LIKED - The concept is very interesting, and the story is intriguing. Basically, you have a company which has found a way to separate the soul from the body and store it for you, allowing you to lead a guilt-free and soul-free life. I thought the idea of the soul as a tangible object was interesting and I found the films conception of this surrealistic idea intriguing.
- The first half of the movie is really good. This portion of the film plays very much like a dark comedy, and it works well. There is a lot of humor deriving from materialism and the trivialization of something which should go beyond the material world.
- The imagery is very good, and very surreal throughout the film.
WHAT WAS OFF FOR ME - The director doesn't seem to have a clear conception of what the soul represents or what it is. This becomes a problem for Paul Giamatti because we really don't see him behave all that much differently without his soul than he does with his soul. The movie really dances around what the soul might represent, but doesn't get there, leading to a little bit of fragmentation in the plot and a lot of logic questions.
- The actors don't seem to act any different when they don't have souls. Occasionally they do act different with other peoples' souls, but it makes you wonder what is really the big deal about losing the soul if you don't behave any differently. This may relate back to the unclear idea of the soul, but it is a drawback of the film.
- I hate it when movies just cut off without a final scene. The scene doesn't have to resolve anything. It can leave questions. But I really like films to have a final scene. This one just seems to cut off randomly. This is a personal pet peeve, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.
Altogether, the film is good. If you're looking for some intellectual humor and some interesting concepts, this is a great film to watch. There are a bunch of things which were a little off-putting, but the film has lots of interesting concepts, surreal imagery, and ideas which make you think about the nature of yourself and the nature of humanity.
6/10. It's not perfect, but it has a lot of interesting concepts.