SELF/LESS (Tarsem Singh). 117 minutes. Rating: NNN
Where to watch: iTunes
Have you seen John Frankenheimer’s Seconds? I have a feeling the makers of Self/Less would prefer you hadn’t.
That’s because the first third of Self/Less is a straight-up reworking of Frankenheimer’s creepy 1966 classic, in which an aging businessman played by John Randolph is surgically reborn as strapping Rock Hudson, only to find rejuvenation has a price.
This time around, Ben Kingsley is a dying Manhattan tycoon who avoids oblivion by having his consciousness transferred into a new, younger body (Ryan Reynolds) – and winds up at the centre of a deadly biotech conspiracy.
The script, by Carriers writer/directors Àlex and David Pastor, then shifts into a riff on elements of the Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner The 6th Day, growing less interesting as it does.
But even when Self/Less abandons its headier questions of identity and immortality so director Tarsem Singh can get to the next shootout or car chase, the actors keep it lively: Reynolds is a compelling lead, showing an older, more considered intelligence in the movie’s quieter moments, and Natalie Martinez (Under The Dome) does some interesting things as a woman surprised to find her apparently dead husband walking around good as new. So that’s nice.
