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Giamatti Hot in Cold Souls

Soul-searching film leaves critics mixed

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 7, 2009 10:04 AM CDT

(Newser) – Paul Giamatti—who plays an actor named...Paul Giamatti—wows critics in Cold Souls, but some say the comedy as a whole, in which a man has his soul removed, leaves something to be desired.

"Cold Souls has its flaws, and it threatens to sag into a Paul-like morbidity, but Giamatti’s anxious mien and unspectacular shamblings have never been better deployed," writes Anthony Lane in the New Yorker.

"When the film reaches for spiritual depth, it's only in Giamatti's wet, beady eyes that the moments resonate," observes Anthony Kaufman in the Village Voice.
In this “attractive, smart-enough, finally un-brave movie,” director Sophie Barthes “peeks at the dark comedy of the soul only to beat a quick, pre-emptive retreat,” notes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times.

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

In this image released by the Sundance Institute, Paul Giamatti is shown in a scene from, "Cold Souls." The film is competing at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival Park City, Utah. The 11-day festival, beginning... (AP Photo/Sundance Institute)

In this image released by the Sundance Institute, Paul Giamatti, right, and David Strathairn are shown in a scene from, "Cold Souls." The film is competing at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival Park City,... (AP Photo/Sundance Institute)

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Giamatti Hot in Cold Souls