This movie deals with a complex concept, the transmigration of souls. It is presented in a way, however, that seems to leave most reviewers puzzled. Many say that the movie ends with Philip Bennett (Edward Norris) awakening from a coma, implying that the whole of the movie since Bennett's accident was merely a dream. It is understandable that some would perceive it that way, but the real story is far less simplistic. Philip Bennett DID die in the car accident. We saw this for ourselves, and it could not have been a dream. When Dr. Clark (Edward Keane) revived him, he would have been able to return to his body, but because the revival occurred at the exact moment of Wolf Panino's death, Panino's soul was interposed between his own and his body, causing Panino's soul to possess Philip Bennett's body. Philip was left bodiless, outside of time in a sort of limbo. When Panino (in Philip's body) was shot, Bennett simply re-entered his body as he originally intended. Because he was outside of our timeline, he was able to enter at the moment of his original revival. Panino's soul at this point was in hell. It is a difficult concept to understand, but it is logically sound, using the following assumptions: Only one soul can occupy a body at any given moment. A soul can only enter a body at the moment it is resurrected (by the means Dr. Clark used). A soul can only exist in one place at one moment. When a soul is bodiless, it exists outside of our time. Philip was unable to enter into his body while Panino was possessing it, yet once Panino, who was tied to our time in Philip's body, died and went to hell, Philip's body was again unoccupied, and he was able to reenter. It did not matter that Panino possessed his body for months of our time, because he was not tied to our timeline. Time from this point on was overwritten by Philip in his correct body.
Review of Man with Two Lives
