DVD movie commentary

If being older is an art, would you buy a body double?

Regaining youthful ways and appearances is taken a step further than reality in Self/less (2015, USA). The movie brings youthfulness into more of the conceptual realm rather than a true reflection of reality.

However, the movie’s focus on living younger is a theme that appears in our culture, over the media, and if you live in the right areas.

The issue of staying youthful is integral in this movie despite the movie’s lack of plausibility: what if a corporation could ‘download’ the consciousness of a dying man into the body of a young man (in his 30s)?

It is a far out idea that never really brushes off its implausibility.

Aging and dying Damian (Ben Kingsley) is a millionaire whose serious health problems make him think about going ahead with the download job. That will effectively make Damian younger without health problems. The operation is probably illegal and definitely pricey.

Damian’s inability to continue his self-made life may make us ask, should he get the ‘download’ job done?

Ben Kingsley oozes uncomfortably and dissatisfaction in the shoes of  Damian’s declining health, which may be a good a reason to go ahead and do the job. Damian is suffering.

Getting the job done is a matter of prolonging the good life, so everyone in their twilight years gives a resounding: why not get the job done! The problem: rejuvenating and extending life convincingly will not work in the long run.

Damian—played by Kingsley—gets his mind downloaded into the body of a younger man—played by Ryan Reynolds—and the combining of the two actors is even less convincing than the film’s premise. I could not imagine Kingsley in the head of Reynolds. (And I couldn’t turn a blind eye to some of the things the young ‘Damian’ gets up to.).

When we get tempted to restore youthful looks and mind, remember that life is what it is. Accept the inevitable and enjoy as much as possible the journey even if it means giving up thousands of dollars to relive thy youth. As if.

Rated PG-13 Contains some profanity and coarse language, violence, some suggestive sexual material