MOVIE REVIEW - Self / Less

Among all the big action and comedy flicks out this summer, there is a drama or two. A shame there isn't a better one.

Self / Less is a drama that on the surface appears to be a pretty interesting idea, but it fizzles shortly after the opening credits.  This stars Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kingsley, but it doesn't matter. All that does his have two darn good actors, performing in this dreadfully slow piece.  And when I say slow, I mean slow.

S/L is the story of a rich New York City tycoon named Damien (Kingsley).   He is dying of lung cancer and since he has unlimited funds, he hears of this new procedure called "shedding."  It is a highly covert medical operation where the healthy mind of a dying person is put into a new "biologically engineered" new body to live on.  When you have this done, you can have no contact with any part of your old life.  You also have to take anti-rejection meds to keep you sane.

Damien has the procedure done, and ends up in the body of "Mark" (Reynolds).  Problem is, we find out that these newer bodies are not engineered at all.  When in fact they are other bodies that somehow end up dead and available for shedding.  These doctors are not good people and they will go to great lengths to protect their secret, and business.  So the action is on, that is Self / Less.

Problem is, this is so painfully slow you really don't know what to do with yourself.  To say this is boring is being incredibly kind.  This is a series of dull scenes, with whispered dialogue, and insanely stiff as this is supposed to be compelling to us.  Clearly, this is a movie designed to make you think about medicine, and the ethics and morality of those ambitious enough to attempt to manipulate life. 

But it's all you can to to stay awake during this thing, let alone think about it ramifications and the message it is trying to convey.  Let's just call this a waste of time,  money and talent and move on to the next thing as fast as we can.

Self / Less .  This just does not work.  A sleeping pill special.