Paul Giamatti is preparing to play Uncle Vanya on Broadway. After reading about the new soul extraction procedure, he finds Soul Storage in the phone book. Dr. Flintstein (David Strathairn) takes out his soul which looks like a chickpea. Paul struggles to connect to his work and starts fighting with his wife Claire (Emily Watson). He tries a Russian poet soul but that comes with bleak memories. When he tries to get his own soul back, he finds it has been stolen by Nina who is a smuggler of souls from Russia. Her Russian mob boss Dimitri wanted a famous actor's soul for his wannabe actress wife Sveta.Writer/director Sophie Barthes is tapping into an interesting, surreal idea that has a fair bit of Charlie Kaufman. It fails mostly by comparison. The black market for souls could have been more compelling and more surreal. The quirkiness fails to be quirky funny. It's a good idea that could have something really interesting.

Cold Souls starts with a very odd, even silly premise and takes it as far as it will go, treating the outlandish story with perfect seriousness. As a result, the movie is more than just a goofy sci-fi comedy - although it has its funny moments. There are elements of humour, of tragedy, of suspense, and even some gangster action. The basic story: Paul Giamatti, playing a version of himself, is an actor who is struggling with negative emotions while preparing for a role in Uncle Vanya. In an effort to resolve these issues, he submits to a newly developed procedure which removes a person's soul, placing it in storage until wanted. He is relieved of strong feelings, but runs into unexpected problems trying to conduct his life as a soulless person. The situation is further complicated by a thriving black market for donor souls.Paul Giamatti's performance is definitely one of the best things about the film. I particularly enjoyed Giamatti rehearsing scenes from Uncle Vanya, first as his ordinary self; then as himself minus a soul; and finally, as himself with a donor soul from a female Russian poet. This is an entertaining movie overall. The plot is full of continual unexpected twists, some funny, some rather dark, and never becomes dull or predictable.

Cold souls was a pleasant experience for me,well the story is a bit unusual but very thoughtful indeed.Paul Giamatti (as Paul Giamatti) plays the role of a famous actor who has been struggling with a play called 'UNCLE VANYA' and tries to find an answer which leads him to give up his soul,is this the final answer he was looking for??..or things become much complicated than before??,as i said the story is quite different and thoughtful.The movie is quite artistic in many ways,may be a little sad at times but always interesting enough to keep you involved.Paul Giamatti with an outstanding performance is very impressive...good film with a great story,better than most

I had to watch this movie twice to fully understand and appreciate its beauty. I don't want to spoil the whole movie but here is how I watched this film: At first you are misguided (although not in a bad way) in thinking this movie is a comedy about Paul Giamatti and a Russian Mule... when in fact the whole movie revolves around "the Russian poet" (who we barely see). There is the tragedy...The moral of the story is quite simple: it deals with unjust and unfair manipulation and mistreatment of the souls (Black Market for the souls, poor people selling their souls for a little bit of money) The fact that this movie got labelled as a Comedy is just part of the irony... Don't get me wrong, there are a few quirky smiles (like when Giamatti loses his soul and becomes a lousy actor) but the whole tone of the film is in fact tragic... The pace is heavy yet subtle... The strokes, brushes, movements of the camera are amazing... If you are not touched by this film, then you are a Cold Soul and need to get yourself check.I was very impressed and highly recommend this...(Another thing I liked: this is not your average wanna-be indie anti-conformist anti-Hollywood film... This is just a really nice movie.)