"Is your soul weighing you down?" That's the question of the ad for The Soul Storage Company. They have developed the technology to remove a person's soul and place it in storage. It seems a soul can be quite a burden in these difficult times. They also have a catalog of souls available to rent in case you'd like a different kind of soul.

In Cold Souls Paul Giamatti (played not so coincidentally by Paul Giamatti), is an actor who's having trouble with his role as Uncle Vanya. He is struggling with a general sense of ennui. When he visits The Soul Storage Company he meets with Dr. Flintstein who tells him about elephants and stakes: because an elephant thinks a stake can hold it, it doesn't try to walk away. He says the soul is like that, holding us back from where we can go. Paul has his soul removed and feels free, but soon the emptiness is worse than the ennui. He rents the soul of a Russian poet which does wonders for his performance in the play, but is too intense for him. He just wants his soul back, but when he goes to get it, it is missing. Someone has stolen it to implant in a soap opera actor in Russia. Along with Nina, a Russian soul mule who smuggles souls back and forth (and stole his soul), he heads off to try to get his soul back.

Of course one difficulty with this concept is that the concept of a soul is so hard to get a handle on. The film opens with a quote from Descartes about the soul residing in the pineal gland. Dr. Flintstein tells Paul that nobody really knows what a soul is or does or how it works. As I watched I really couldn't tell much difference in Paul when he had his soul, no soul, or poet's soul. But his wife says he feels different to the touch. Paul begins to wonder who he is. He asks his wife, "If I were a different me in the same body would you still love me?" Just what is a soul? is an interesting question.

Cold Souls is a very morose comedy with a philosophical bent. Writer/director Sophie Barthes traces the genesis of the story to an intersection of Carl Jung and Woody Allen. The film ponders questions of happiness amidst the struggles of life.

As he debates whether to have his soul removed, Paul says he doesn't need to be happy, he just wants to not suffer. That is a theme that should resonate with many people: the desire not to suffer. Suffering seems ubiquitous. It is manifest in alcoholism, depression, hopelessness. One of the ways we try to treat this suffering is through technology; new and better drugs to soften the hard edges of life. Is that much different than using a technology to remove the soul? An interesting question.

The philosophic temperament of the film is more concerned with asking questions than answering them. It leaves the viewer room to hash out these questions and more. At various points in the film, I was reminded of various Charlie Kaufman films (specifically Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Synecdoche, New York) which also play interesting mind games that leave viewers wondering what such a world would be like.

I would have liked some of the questions to get a bit more attention. For example, Nina, the soul smuggler, has carried so many souls that the fragments of those souls that remain with her may not leave enough room for her own soul anymore. Does this mean that whatever soul she carries now is really an amalgam of all those people? If so, should that be seen as a curse or as a blessing? Interesting questions.

Of course the biggest question for viewers is if they would take advantage of the services of The Soul Storage Company. Is your soul weighing you down? Would you like to have your soul removed if it took away your anxiety? Would you like another soul that could help you find happiness or contentment? Interesting questions.