A 2009 American Comedy-Drama written and directed by Sophie Barthes that has Paul Giamatti playing a fictionalized version of himself, as he feels overwhelmed by his latest project and has his soul deep freezed.
The movie also stars Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, David Strathairn, Katheryn Winnick, Lauren Ambrose, Oksana Lada, Sergey Kolesnikov, Michael Stuhlbarg, Michael Tucker, and Boris Kievsky.
It was released on January 17, 2009.
Tropes for the film:
- As Himself: Paul Giamatti plays Paul Giamatti.
- Bad "Bad Acting": When the newly souless Paul Giamatti is acting in Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya", his performance is not stilted or hammed up, but it is still very noticeably and realistically bad.
- Our Souls Are Different: Extracting one's soul is as common as, say, wiping away bad memories. Creative Sterility happens to Giamatti when his "chickpea-sized" soul is removed to prevent anxiety, and he later gets involved in Russian soul smuggling.
- The Soulless: The premise is that people can put their souls into storage to be freed from the burden of having a soul, or can even get a soul transplant. When Paul Giamatti first has his soul stored, he feels light and happy but turns into an insouciant Jerkass who can no longer act.
- Tagline: "A soul searching comedy".
- True Art Is Angsty: In-Universe. The inciting incident that has Giamatti remove his soul to better play the titular role of an Uncle Vanya stage production as the intense material drives him to tears during the middle of rehearsal. Taking out his soul fixes that problem, but it ultimately robs him of the ability to act.
