Self/less Director: Tarsem Singh Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Natalie Martinez, Matthew Goode One star
Self/less, if you couldn't tell from the preposterous title, is a deeply silly movie that takes itself very, very seriously.
The premise is interesting enough: a dying man (Ben Kingsley) undergoes a procedure to save his mind by ditching his failing body for a shiny new model (Ryan Reynolds, you could do worse). But, the lofty ambitions, trite messages, half-hearted allegories and over-the-top caricatures make director Tarsem Singh's (The Cell, The Fall) latest film a misguidedly campy experience. Here, the dying man is possibly the worst person in the world. He is wealthy, powerful and ruthless. He's also only got six months to live and pays US$250 million (Dh918m) for a new "vessel" for his brilliant mind. He craves immortality so wholly that he doesn't ask too many questions about the origins of the new body. The doctor behind the procedure (a moustache-twirling Matthew Goode), says that the bodies are grown in labs. Sure they are ...
In his new, youthful body Damian goes off to live it up in New Orleans – because even with 86 years of wisdom, when you’re suddenly given the body of Ryan Reynolds, your priorities shift. So much for that great mind.
And this is the main problem. Kingsley’s Damian was a sour, ruthless, brilliant man who’d built an empire. Reynolds’ Damian is a little dopey, deeply curious and empathetic from the start, lacking even an ounce of that bitter, eagle-eyed intensity and drive. It’s as though they’re two completely different men, which makes for a far less interesting film, especially when Damian begins to suspect that his new body didn’t come out of a lab. He is compelled to investigate – perhaps his most-out-of character move. Why would he start caring about others now? That curiosity gets him entangled in the lives of Madeline (Natalie Martinez) and her daughter Anna (Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen), who he now feels obligated to protect from a murderous Albright and his thugs.
The rest of the movie is a cat-and-mouse chase. Despite some gorgeous visuals, it all feels rather standard with increasingly diminished returns. Self/less imagines itself as a high-concept redemption tale – but it’s more concerned with the action than the big questions or dark implications.
artslife@thenational.ae
