SELF/LESS (review)

Produced by Ram Bergman,

Peter Schlessel, James D. Stern

Written by David Pastor, Àlex Pastor

Directed by Tarsem Singh

Starring Ryan Reynolds, Ben Kingsley,

Matthew Goode, Michelle Dockery

Natalie Martinez, Victor Garber, Derek Luke

Tarsem Singh tends to be one of those directors that most movie-goers say, “Who?”.  Which is unfortunate since the majority of his projects are interesting and a step left of the mainstream.

Who is Tarsem Singh? I remembered him from The Cell…you know, back when Jennifer Lopez was a thing.  Lopez aside, the visuals and Vincent D’Onofrio were amazing.  

If you missed seeing it, go stream it.  

I have always been impressed by his visuals, so I knew a viewing of his new endeavor, Self/Less, wouldn’t be a waste of my time.  

God, I do love being right.

Self/Less is a beautifully told indy action-thriller.  Did you see how I threw “indy” in there?  That’s very important.  

I think we have all become used to the candy-coated, shiny, explosive packaging synonymous of the Michael Bay and Zack Snyder action-thriller genre.  It’s easy to forget that there can be something else.  

Tarsem Singh and his crew of incredibly talented filmmakers remind us that there is only a finite number of stories to be told, but it’s how we tell them that makes all of the difference.

Self/Less is the story of a wealth man dying of cancer, Damien, (Ben Kingsley, Gandhi, Iron Man 3) who endures a black-market medical miracle created by Dr. Albright (Matthew Goode, The Imitation Game) to transfer his consciousness into a laboratory grown body.  

Things begin to unravel when Damien’s new body turns out to be the body of a family man and veteran, Mark (Ryan Reynolds, Green Lantern, Wolverine). Damien’s discovery forces him to choose between his new life, and a possible responsibility to Mark’s family.  No matter his choice there are distasteful consequences.

Although the plot twists are not a surprise to a viewer who is familiar to stories in this vein, the way the story is told is enthralling.  Brothers David and Álex Pastor have written a solid script that Singh, his cinematographer Brandan Galvin, and editor Robert Duff, (both whom Singh as collaborated with previously) masterfully spun a tale that assumed the audience was both intelligent and attentive.

Self/Less may lack the polish of a standard Holllywood movie, but that is also its charm.  Dialog is not wasted on repeating the facts of the protagonist situation to very new character introduced. There is a balance between rapid fire montages and quiet intimate scenes to develop the personalities and relationships of the characters without stalling the momentum of the story. 

The actions scenes are pleasantly believable.  Damien/Mark appears trained, not super human.  The fight scenes and car chases are devoid of fancy acrobatics or pyrotechnics.  I wasn’t distracted by CGI effects that have become commonplace with films.  The characters reacted the way real people react.  The physics of the stunts were spot on because they were practical.  Instead of detracting from the film, it pulled me deeper into the story.

It bears mentioning that I usually cannot stand children in movies.  They are usually wooden or “acting”, and I detest the way most directors use them to yank on a viewer’s heart strings with a forklift.  Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen, who plays Mark’s daughter, Anna, is an absolute natural.  Sweet without being saccharine.  It will be interesting to see what the future holds for her.

For those who ask me, I will urge them to go and see Self/Less.  Although not a perfect film (few truly are), it’s a good piece of filmmaking in a market that not only thoroughly entertains, but respects the audience’s intelligence.

Enjoy!