Self/less (2015)

Too much of everything

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Ideal movie for Friday night but nothing else. I was a little bit dissapointed not to see weird colors and costumes that are typical for Tarsem Singh. He made it standard Hollywood way. Hopefully he didn't lose his touch because of that.

I can't belive I fell for another Ryan Reynolds movie. It was boring, too long, and too contrived. Save the two hours of your life and just punch yourself in the face.

Though its themes are a bit familiar, Selfless is an interesting and exciting premise.The film does a good job at exploring the moral questions. It goes exactly how its supposed to go with nothing more or less. It's a smart and well-crafted sci-fi thriller. It is a great movie with a great cast. It's very enjoyable for its visuals, but it's a bit predictable. The film is not very realistic, but it's very emotional. It has a good concept, but it's not unique. All in all I can say it's worth watching. I highly recommend this movie. =))

Self/less is called a "science fiction thriller" but there's little sci-fi here at all. It's based on a much earlier flick from the 60s, Seconds, directed by John Frankenheimer. As with its predecessor, the plot involves an older man's soul transferred into the body of a much younger individual. In this case the older man is Damien Hale (Ben Kingsley) who's dying of terminal cancer. He's a business tycoon worth billions but regrets his estranged relationship with his daughter, an attorney for a non-profit who champions liberal causes.Hale finds out about a Professor Albright who has developed a technique called "shedding," enabling the transfer into a younger man's body. Albright however lies to Hale stating that the new body has been artificially grown. After Hale goes through the shedding procedure, he wakes up in a new body (Ryan Reynolds) and is given a new identity as Edward Kidner. Albright gives Kidner special medication to prevent hallucinations, but soon Kidner figures out that the hallucinations are memories of an actual person Albright used as Hale's new substitute.Kyle Smith writing in the NY Post points out one of the major flaws of the film involves Reynolds' performance which "doesn't even bother to maintain a consistent personality between the two bodies inhabited by the same mind and soul. Kingsley's character is a total bastard but Reynolds's is cool, relaxed and kind-hearted, part frat boy and part golden retriever."A larger problem is with the plot which sheds any pretensions to good science fiction and devolves into a mindless action "thriller." Kidner soon seeks out his wife and child from his past life and finds out he used to be a former soldier named Mark; he seeks to save them from Albright and his men who consist of a multitude of bad guys armed to the teeth and bent on doing Kidner in--as he poses a threat to expose the organization for its unethical use of live subjects. No need to recap most of the rest of the plot which features a series of standard chase scenes and shoot-em-ups. Kidner of course ultimately dispatches his unpleasant opponents and also discovers that going off the medication restores him to his former self—that's of course what he does but before Hale disappears entirely, he has one last touching moment with his estranged daughter and then leaves a parting video message for Mark explaining everything that's transpired.Self/less has all the hallmarks of a straight to cable production although it did make a modest profit during a live feature release, bolstered by some success in the foreign market. While there are other films out today that are far weaker than this, it's still should be regarded as thoroughly mediocre.