Sophie Barthes’“Cold Souls” Nominated For Best First Screenplay

In “Cold Souls,” Paul Giamatti plays a fictionalized version of himself as an actor struggling to distance himself from the characters he plays in film and on stage. Giamatti is particularly hamstrung by his character in a production of “Uncle Vanya” and is desperately trying to find a way to perform the part without his emotions getting in the way. He see an advertisement for a service called “Soul Storage,” which offers to house his soul for a while. Giamatti is intrigued by the offer, and opts to sign up for the service. With his soul extracted, Giamatti learns that life without passion or emotional intelligence is not what he envisioned, setting up a chain of mishaps that has the actor desperately trying to recover what has been lost. The strong premise of “Cold Souls” seems to be rife with possibility, but the film ultimately chooses to muddle the story with an odd mix of comedy and thriller. The tone is never truly defined in the film, NY directv, which makes it difficult to fully resonate. Intentional or not, Giamatti’s problem in “Cold Souls” seems to be the film’s problem: it can not fully connect emotionally. Despite Giamatti’s best efforts, “Cold Souls” is not much more than a clever idea that needs more time to develop.