THAT’S NOT ME — Review by Cate Marquis
In the Australian comedy, That’s Not Me, Alice Foulcher plays Polly, a struggling actor in Melbourne whose life is turned upside down when her twin sister Amy, also an actor, sudden launches into international fame. Ironically, the role that gave Amy the exposure she needed to win a part in a big movie was a part in a soap opera that Polly had turned down. Continue reading…
As Amy’s fame grows, strangers start mistaking Polly for her twin. Polly may say “that’s not me” but she kind of wishes it was. Frustrated, Polly makes a number of career missteps, doing things that do not help either her self-confidence or her career. Finally, one time when she does not correct the mistaken identity fast enough, she quickly finds herself swept into impersonation.
The premise of That’s Not Me seems far-fetched but the film is actually grounded in real human concerns and characters. Credit has to go to the cast, particularly Foulcher in the double role, who always keep one foot grounded in the real, no matter how out-of-control life gets for poor Polly. A well-written script, which Foulcher co-wrote with director Gregory Erdstein, helps too.
The comedy could have gone for loud, farce-based, empty-headed humor but it is a better film than that, while still providing plenty of laughs. Sibling rivalry has been mined for humor countless times but the identical twins adds a little comic confusion. What identical twin has not, in the course of growing up, tried the trick of pretending to be the other sibling? There is also the fact that plenty of actors get mistaken for another actor they resemble, or even get cast because they are, for example, a “Jared Leto-type,” and there is a running gag about Leto in That’s Not Me, although he is not in the cast. While That’s Not Me draws from all that potential comic material, the film also has its thoughtful side, with the characters reflecting on the nature of fame, ambition, the meaning of success and family.
That’s Not Me is a funny comedy with something to say, on fame and family, and it does both well.
