User Reviews

This wasn't too bad considering the theme has been done countless times before with films like "Total Recall", "Freejack" and "Face/Off"; that last one even contributing the idea of two non-related words to assume some semblance of meaning for a movie title. Still, there were some problems with the execution that the film makers decided to gloss over relative to the plot. I didn't think Ben Kingsley conveyed the idea that Damian Hale had only six months to live since he looked pretty healthy to me aside from those coughing spasms of his. And why 'Mark' became a transfer body was never made clear. His background in the military was alluded to, and he was obviously selected by Jensen/Albright (Matthew Goode) as a subject devoid of serious imperfections. There was also the scene where Damian's friend Martin (Victor Garber) expressed his doubt about Damian occupying a new identity until it was verified by describing their first business deal together. But Martin already knew such a procedure was possible because he had a replacement son via the same 'shedding' method. He could have been playing dumb but it didn't come across that way. What was gratifying was Damian's decision to cease taking the red pill in order for Mark to resume life with his reunited family. That selfless (ahh, there it is!) act reminded me of yet another story harking all the way back to my childhood days watching Rod Serling's 'Twilight Zone'. In 'The Trade-Ins' an elderly gentleman gave up his chance for a younger body when his finances didn't allow the same procedure for his wife, thereby accepting the inevitability of death at some point in the future. When faced with a tough choice, it's commendable to see a noble decision being made.

This felt like an above average in depended movie and it was both entertaining and thought provoking.

Ben Kingley's role was small but just enough so Ryan Reynolds could portray him and still be creditable and it was also good for the pacing.

I don"t think this was a big budget movie and they spend their money well giving you a great story about the choices we make in life and how it could be different if we had a second chance.

The business man neglecting his daughter felt very relatable and so was Ryan Reynold's character in an attempt to save his daughter who otherwise would die because of her illness.

There are numerous surprises in this film and besides the thriller aspect you get just enough sci-fi and more than enough action.

The supporting cast did an excellent job and I especially liked the little girl because I thought she acted really natural.

The scale of it all sometimes feels a little small but it was still sufficient and probably caused by a lack of budget.

Two keywords come to mind for this and thats sacrifice and redemption.

I liked it a lot and so I recommend you'll give it a try.

Enjoy.

I am always surprised to see Ben Kingsley in a small role - after all, he was Gandhi. But here he is again, as Damian, an extremely wealthy man who is suffering from terminal cancer. He finds a business card directing him to Professor Albright (Matthew Goode), who performs a medical procedure called "shedding", in which one's consciousness is transferred to young, healthy body that has been engineered. He decides to do it.

After the procedure, he is given pills he needs to take daily. Now Young Damien, he changes his name, moves to New Orleans and has the fun of a young single guy for a time. He becomes friends with his neighbor, Anton.

He forgets to take his medicine one day and begins to see visions, but Albright tells him it's part of the "shedding" process. Not convinced, he goes searching for a landmark he saw in his visions. He discovers that Albright hasn't told him everything.

Exciting and ultimately sweet film with some good acting from Ryan Reynolds, Natalie Martinez, Victor Garber, and one of my favorites, Matthew Goode.

Yes, there was a lot of action but I didn't think of it as an action film. I enjoyed it.

Sometimes I just don't understand so-called professional critics. I really don't. You give them a very good movie and they complain that it wasn't a lot better than it was. It's like they're going out of their way to be negative. That bothers me and that's why I prefer to call myself a movie "reviewer". I'm just someone who loves movies, sees a lot of them, knows a bit about the industry and wants to use my experience as a writer to discuss movies in a way that others might enjoy and find useful – and from a movie fan's perspective.

I'm only out to answer one question when I review a movie: Was it entertaining? If I feel it was, I recommend it, giving it a grade in the "A" or "B" range, depending on how entertaining it was. If it's not very entertaining, or just bad, it gets a "C" or "D". And if the movie is out-right horrible, it gets an "F". Simple, right? Well, "Self/less" (PG-13, 1:56) isn't going to change the world, but it is interesting, fun, thought-provoking and well-made. It is, simply stated, a very entertaining film. What more do we need in a movie? Underneath all its action and intrigue, this movie asks how important a person's life is and at what cost a specific person's life should be preserved. Oscar winner Ben Kingsley plays Damian Hale, a New York City real estate tycoon who is dying of cancer. Like most people, Damian is more than a little unnerved by the reality of his imminent demise, but, unlike most people, he has the ability to do something about it. He becomes aware of a very expensive and very secretive process by which his consciousness can be implanted into a younger man's body, enabling Damian to survive, enjoy life and contribute to society for another 50 years or so. He's rich enough to afford it and arrogant enough to think he deserves it.

Professor Albright (Matthew Goode) tells Damian that each body is an "empty vessel" grown in the lab. The body that Damian is given to inhabit looks a lot like Ryan Reynolds. The transition from his old body to his new body (called "shedding") is disorienting. Damian's mind has to get used to seeing a different reflection in the mirror and must learn to adjust to his new physicality. Albright puts him up in a luxury apartment near Albright's New Orleans facility in order to monitor the progress of Damian, Version 2.0. Albright also gives the new Damian red pills to help him suppress upsetting and reoccurring visions. Albright calls them "hallucinations" and says that they're a common side effect of the shedding process, but Damian says the visions feel more like memories. Hmmm.

As the story unfolds, Damian learns to make new friends, but keep the old. In his temporary digs in the Big Easy, he starts hanging out with a guy named Anton (Derek Luke). Damian also gets reacquainted with two very different women from his past (played by Michelle Dockery and Natalie Martinez) and has to reach out to an old friend and colleague (Victor Garber) when things get… complicated. A sci-fi drama becomes a mystery, a psychological thriller and an action movie with several twists and turns. "Self/less" is part "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", part "The Bourne Identity" and a little bit of "The Matrix". There's a lot going on to keep you entertained while you're thinking deep thoughts about the story's bigger issues.

Some critics fault "Self/less" for becoming too much of an action movie and failing to more fully exploit the plot's intriguing set-up. But I have a feeling that if they got the movie they say they wanted, they'd have called it boring. This is an original, exciting film that is very well-acted, well-paced (by director Tarsem Singh) and well-plotted (by screenwriters David and Alex Pastor). The moral issues are never far from the moviegoers mind, and are still there to be considered after some of the movie's more frenetic moments have faded from the screen. A movie doesn't have to be completely original to be thought-provoking and entertaining. "Self/less" is both – and more. "A-"

I didn't know about this movie until my mom told me about it. Yeah, I have a really cool mom :P :D

So, I said let's watch the trailer and see what it's all about. Liked the trailer, so I decided to watch the movie.

The idea itself makes you think about the decisions one takes in life and how they affect you later on, how regrets overwhelm you and how it is that immortality seems such a divine option that we all dream of and how that can be a total disaster if not managed correctly.

Damian is a business man who finds himself in the last phase of cancer, with 6 months to live. He decides to go to this secret clinic to make a transfer of consciousness into somebody else's body. He is being lied to from the very beginning by being told the bodies are grown in the lab. He wakes up in this younger body and he tries to move n with life. Suddenly he has all these dreams with a Hispanic woman, a child and he suspects the lies he was told. He goes to find the location he had in his dreams and finds out that the woman and the child actually exist, together with the young man's body he now is. Here is where all his problems start and the action is really intriguing.

I'd say this movie worth 2 hours of your time, it is not exceptional, but it's good. And Ryan Reynolds delivers quite a good performance.

The idea of transferring your consciousness to a new body has massive potential for exploring future ethical and moral implications and how it would effect society and individuals. None of this was explored, instead once the body migration is complete we are taken on a boring narrow predictable Hollywood journey of a typical dude doing everything he can to save his child and wife, car chases, shoot outs, hand to hand fighting. Break for a pathetic scene where he bonds with the child and shows his sensitive side while the wife watches, resolve past life relationships and then make the "self less" sacrifice at the end so everyone is happy despite the young child witnessing multiple acts of violence and death. Someone should actually write a new script one day instead of churning out this tired old Hollywood format.

There was a recent TV series called "Dollhouse" where mostly vacant "dolls", adult men and women, were kept in a hidden secret facility and when a wealthy client needed a person with highly specialized skills a doll could be loaded up for the assignment.

This movie isn't exactly like that but many of its themes are similar. A mad scientist has developed a way to grow human-like creatures just waiting for a complete consciousness to be put into them. He sees it as a way for the important and wealthy to become immortal, they continue functioning in a different, younger, healthy body.

Very wealthy New York developer, Ben Kingsley as Damian, is approaching 70 and has some health issues. In fact he has been told he has only 6 more months. But he learns about the secret "Shedd" process and contacts the mad scientist. He shows him a body, they make the swap, Damian is able to resume life in this younger body. Of course it all happens in beautiful New Orleans. The secret lab is in a West Bank warehouse used for Mardi Gras float storage.

This younger body is Ryan Reynolds who begins the life of the younger Damian. He has to take some special medicine on a regular schedule to avoid rejection of his new memories. But when he is late he has visions, flashes of other things and people, and he soon realizes the truth. The body he is in has not been grown in a lab, it is the body of another person. He sets out on a quest to find the real identity of the body he is now sharing.

Natalie Martinez, who was so miscast and bad as a cop on "Under the Dome", is pretty effective here as Madeline with the young child. Matthew Goode is good as the mad scientist Albright. The always reliable Victor Garber is good as Damian long-time business partner Martin.

Overall the movie is good entertainment. It isn't too long and moves along at a nice pace. The concept is intriguing but of course all Sci-Fi.

SPOILERS: The new Damian finds Madeline and child in the St Louis area (actually a west bank location along the Mississippi River levee) after he has a vision of a pumpkin-painted water tower. He is her husband who had disappeared, she thought he was dead, he had sold his body to provide medical care for their young daughter. Now that Damian knew the whole operation was criminal he set out to track them down, which he does with some difficulties along the way. When he quits taking the rejection medicine he reverts to who he was, he and his family end up on a tropical island where no one can find them. And I suppose Damian died a peaceful mental and emotional death by fading away.