Self/less

Self/less is a great “small” spring thriller (like Limitless and Source Code) that was unfortunately released in the summer. A great idea, surprising twists, a bearable dose of genre clichés and sentiment. Sometimes the script hastily simplifies the impact of said twists on the characters’ reactions, but it does so in order to maintain a brisk narrative dynamic that is perfect. The action scenes are unexpectedly thrilling and brutal. Tarsem Singh was finally able to make efficient use of his exotic directing technique in the mainstream. One of Ryan Reynolds’ best roles. (17/08/2015)

Loads of traditional Hollywood clichés starting with plot twists and ending with family values. But Singh's direction is brisk throughout (he's even got a sensible script) and the action is unexpectedly dynamic. Ryan Reynolds in another role where he puts clouds of energy. If Bay hadn't made a visual magnum opus on similar themes a few years ago, this might have been better, as it is, Self/Less looks like the little brother. (18/06/2016)

It's one of those undemanding, clichéd light sci-fi movies where you can exactly predict where the story will go, but it doesn't really matter, as it's well-directed and not boring at all. I understand the frustration of some people with the lack of innovation in the film, but I truly don't understand the one-star reviews. However, it greatly depends on how much you like Ryan Reynolds, for me 7/10, although the ending was a bit dragged out. (04/08/2020)

Hollywood's god of composition, Tarsem Singh, after earlier narrow escapes has been given the task of proving that he can make a standard underfunded sci-fi thriller that will show the big studios his subtlety and get him money for a big project, or a script for a comic book or something. You absolutely can't decipher his handwriting in this one, but the direction is the only thing that keeps this joke afloat. In the first half you can see it a lot in the dialogue scenes, which are stagy in a Singh way, cramming as much information as possible into one shot, but later on his eye only slips into a few sequences (btw can someone explain to me why they set the car on fire?). But where the whole film completely runs out of breath is with the script, which after the first reveal tiredly dissolves into a series of terribly boring monothematic dialogues and sad looks that don't manage much closure and are the only thing that moves the story forward. And that's bad. (24/11/2015)

So, after Immortals and Mirror Mirror, Tarsem Singh made things right again with me. Self/less is a great film that combined sci-fi, drama and action in the way that Steven Spielberg's Minority Report did. Quite naturally. It looks great, and I (unlike The Fall) almost did not realize that it takes two hours, and the actors and actresses were a joy to watch. The finale similar to The Old Gun made me happy, and I don't consider it as theft, but rather as an accurate and equally impressive quote. (29/01/2017)