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COLD SOULSMovie Reviews
Comedy about what transpires when an angst-ridden New Yorker puts his soul in deep-freeze. Cast:Paul Giamatti, David Strathairn, Emily Watson, Dina Korzun, Katheryn WinnickDirector:Sophie BarthesRelease Date:August 7, 2009DVD Release:February 7, 2010From:Samuel GoldwynRating:PG-13Length:1 hr. 41 min.
Cold Souls played in key cities to good reviews. • Anthony Lane wrote in the New Yorker, "To take a big, bewildering concept and treat it as a small, scuffed item of everyday use demands the kind of wit with which recent movies have all but dispensed." • And Stephen Cole wrote in the Toronto Globe & Mail, "You wear a smile right through the surrealist spoof, but leave the theatre feeling somehow under-entertained." More Reviews Below...
Leah Rozen, People: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...more fun on an intellectual level than at times it plays out onscreen... scores for being wildly imaginative and clever and for at least trying something different."(See all of Leah Rozen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 157 words, 08/06/09
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: VERY GOOD(cg) "The combination of themes and visuals does make 'Cold Souls' feel a little slow, but it's also invigorating to walk out of a movie that actually makes you think..."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 550 words, 08/13/09
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (9 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD "...ambitious, elegantly shot, tonally cool... Ms. Barthes peeks at the dark comedy of the soul only to beat a quick, pre-emptive retreat."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 901 words, 08/07/09
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Writer-director Sophie Barthes takes her notion and runs with it, and Giamatti and David Strathairn follow fearlessly."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 683 words, 08/20/09
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "Writer-director Sophie Barthes shows a patient intelligence often missing from today's scrappier filmmakers, and she makes wonderful use of the gifted Giamatti..."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 252 words, 08/07/09
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Little chuckles rather than the big laughs you keep waiting for are what you get... a mildly funny metaphysical comedy..."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 407 words, 08/07/09
Anthony Kaufman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "...has been dubbed 'Being Paul Giamatti' more than once.... But 'Cold Souls' exists on a different, surrealist plane: more lyricism, less misanthropy."(See all of Anthony Kaufman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 643 words, 08/05/09
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...insistently arty... The film is so in love with its own postmodernity that it doesn't bother to construct a framework in which said postmodernity could flower."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 177 words, 08/06/09
KEY CITIES (11 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "A cerebral trip through the existential looking glass in the tradition of Charlie Kaufman ('Being John Malkovich') -- with a dash of Woody Allen thrown in for good measure..."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 599 words, 08/21/09
Justin Berton, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "If you removed your soul, would you still be you? It's a simple query, and a fun one to explore, yet only a temporarily compelling conflict for a feature-length film."(See all of Justin Berton's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 299 words, 09/04/09
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: EXCELLENT(cg) "It gets more outlandish by the minute... Yet writer and director Sophie Barthes, in an assured feature debut, with the considerable help of star Paul Giamatti, never flinches."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 579 words, 08/28/09
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "Giamatti works his intelligent, anxious, neurotic screen persona, but does it in a way that makes it seem both lived-in and a little outside itself - winking from the sidelines."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 491 words, 08/21/09
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...writer/director Sophie Barthes handles weighty issues with a light touch. Her through-the-looking-glass fantasy is silliness with a hint of transcendence."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 530 words, 08/28/09
Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "Giamatti looks less and less like a star and more like an everyman bewildered by yet another disturbing, life-cheapening wrinkle in the modern world."(See all of Tom Keogh's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 452 words, 08/21/09
Mike Russell, Portland Oregonian: GOOD(cg) "...gorgeously shot by cinematographer Andrij Parekh... the general tone is a fairly confident tightrope-walk between dry farce and existential gloom..."(See all of Mike Russell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 419 words, 09/04/09
Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Giamatti is perfect at the center of 'Cold Souls,' the kind of sardonic lark that triggers more silent laughter than belly laughs. Against all odds, it proves to be haunting, too."(See all of Michael Sragow's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 472 words, 09/04/09
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (7 Reviews)
Anthony Kaufman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "...has been dubbed 'Being Paul Giamatti' more than once.... But 'Cold Souls' exists on a different, surrealist plane: more lyricism, less misanthropy."(See all of Anthony Kaufman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 643 words, 08/05/09
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: MODERATE(cg) "...settles for rehashing elements... like 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,' 'Being John Malkovich,' 'American Splendor,' and 'Vanya on 42ndStreet.' "(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 562 words, 08/13/09
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...insistently arty... The film is so in love with its own postmodernity that it doesn't bother to construct a framework in which said postmodernity could flower."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 177 words, 08/06/09
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD "...ambitious, elegantly shot, tonally cool... Ms. Barthes peeks at the dark comedy of the soul only to beat a quick, pre-emptive retreat."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 901 words, 08/07/09
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: FAIR "The notion of a soulectomy certainly qualifies as a promising comedy premise... The more elaborate the plot becomes, the sillier it gets."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 415 words, 08/07/09
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: VERY GOOD "To take a big, bewildering concept and treat it as a small, scuffed item of everyday use demands the kind of wit with which recent movies have all but dispensed."(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,178 words, 07/20/09
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "Writer-director Sophie Barthes shows a patient intelligence often missing from today's scrappier filmmakers, and she makes wonderful use of the gifted Giamatti..."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 252 words, 08/07/09
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: MODERATE "...marveling at its own wacky (if finally somewhat thin) conceit and making a couple jokes at Giamatti's expense, the pic never mines any deeper levels of comedy..."(See all of Justin Chang's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 630 words, 01/20/09
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "Writer-director Sophie Barthes shows a patient intelligence often missing from today's scrappier filmmakers, and she makes wonderful use of the gifted Giamatti..."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 252 words, 08/07/09
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: GOOD "...ambitious, elegantly shot, tonally cool... Ms. Barthes peeks at the dark comedy of the soul only to beat a quick, pre-emptive retreat."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 901 words, 08/07/09
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: FAIR "The notion of a soulectomy certainly qualifies as a promising comedy premise... The more elaborate the plot becomes, the sillier it gets."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 415 words, 08/07/09
17.5 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Cold Souls's reviews are separated by an average 17.5 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Cold Souls (33 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Cold Souls's reviews cover 66.4% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 16,141 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 489 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 36.2 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Cold Souls's reviews on average broke 36.2 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Cold Souls's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Cold Souls (33 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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