Self/less
Dir: Tarsem
Singh
Starring: Ryan
Reynolds, Ben Kingsley, Natalie Martinez, Michelle Dockery, Derek Luke, and
Matthew Goode
117 Minutes
Focus Features
Immortality. If you could live forever, would you? Imagine what
the world would look like if some of the greatest minds would have had more
time to carry out their work, more time to discover the possibilities they had
envisioned. Scientists across the globe are trying to turn this science fiction
into science future. Research into the complexities of the human brain yields many unanswered questions, and that's not including the greater topic of immortality;
still even the smallest steps in research gain ground. Think about what science has brought
the world in the last twenty years. “Self/less”, directed by Tarsem Singh,
attempts to weigh in on this topic of immortality and the result is an
initially thought-provoking science film that falters with a conventional
approach that doesn’t
accommodate the creativeness of the topic.
Damian Hale (Ben Kingsley) is an aged, ruthless New York real
estate mogul. We are introduced to him ailing from a disease that will
ultimately take his life. Damian has a strained relationship with his daughter
Claire (Michelle Dockery), who on first meeting Damian offends by belittling
her charitable occupation. Damian unexpectedly meets a British scientist named
Albright (Matthew Goode) who deals in the science of immortality through
cognitive transferring software. Damian, knowing his life will soon be over,
pays for the procedure. Upon his faked death Damian’s memories and thoughts will be
transferred to a younger body (Ryan Reynolds).
Science fiction authors, think Robert A. Heinlein or Phillip K. Dick, have dealt with
this topic before. Even this year the film “Transcendence” proposed the
transferring of human thought and memory into a computer system. This idea is
far from original, though it remains ripe material because of the continued advances in
technology. Preposterous as it may feel at times in "Self/less", because the
film doesn't completely sell the science, it still proposes many intriguing
questions. Director Tarsem Singh builds a good introduction, displaying Damian
Hale as a man plagued by both the deficits and benefits of time. What will he do
with his renewed life? This would have been the interesting question to pursue.
Unfortunately just as elements begin to gain ground and move towards
fascinating places the narrative turns into an action-thriller filled with all
the usually, predictable conventions.
Ryan Reynolds plays Damian Hale for the bulk of the film with Ben
Kingsley making a quick appearance in the beginning before transferring, or
“shedding” as the film describes it, into a younger body. Reynolds has a
charming appeal as Damian, an interesting and somewhat abrupt change from the
grumpy persona of Damian that Kingsley displays in the beginning. The character
unfortunately never feels completely fleshed out, instead it is pieced
together with emotions and reactions that assist the tumbling directions of the
narrative.
“Self/less” has initial promise because it takes the theories and implications
seriously; regardless of how far reaching it may feel at times. Unfortunately
this tone is abandoned in favor of unnecessary twists and actions scenes.
Immortality may not be the stuff of science fiction for future generations, which makes it interesting
to ask if you would want to live forever? Or, would the world be better
off? “Self/less” would have been better
suited taking these kinds of questions more seriously.
Monte’s Rating
3.00 out of 5.00
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