That’s Not Me ( Gregory Erdstein, 2017): Australia | USA

Reviewed by Susan Cochran. Viewed at Metro 4 Theaters, Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2017

That’s Not Me is a fun little movie out of Australia by first time feature film director Gregory Erdstein. He and spouse Alice Foulcher (who also stars in the movie) wrote the script that follows the main character as she makes her way into adulthood; dealing with career choices, family and expectations along the way.

The film opens with a close up of Polly giving a perfectly composed thank you speech for an acting award. As the camera reveals more, we notice her hair and makeup are messy and she is talking into a spray can of room deodorizer and there is a roll of toilet paper on the wall and she is actually on the toilet and, suddenly, she forgets her lines. Oh, well. Yes, she wants to be an actress.

In the drug store while she searches for ecologically conscious tampons, the sales clerk mistakes Polly for her twin sister, Amy, who has actually had some TV screen time and is recognizable for her fabulous KFC commercial. Polly corrects the sales clerk and a heated denial-confrontation occurs and the clerk finally walks away, flipping off Polly. There is a great shot of time-of-the-month-Polly-not-Amy in the feminine hygiene aisle clutching a bag of organic tampons. She can’t win.

Things don’t get any better when Polly is at her agent’s office. She is advised to dress more professionally but she does get offered a choice role in a soap opera. This sounds great but she will play an albino. Polly turns down the role as politically incorrect and says she’ll wait for an HBO call back. Her agent is not confident about that call back but Polly thinks they will. Will not. Will. Will not.

And the awkward just keeps coming. Polly meets a guy at a party and says she is an actress but not her sister and they go to the guy’s place and have sorta sex and then she has to leave because it is his mom’s house and she may come home. Then party guy takes mom to the movies and there is Polly, behind the counter, selling tickets and popcorn and the guy now thinks Polly can introduce him to Amy. Speaking of Amy, she takes the albino soap opera role and becomes a big star. And HBO wants Amy (not Polly) and now there are Amy billboards all over Melbourne. And no one believes Polly is not Amy-the-star. So Polly decides to just go with it and things get even more hilariously awkward.

Foulcher does a great job of playing Polly/Amy. Polly’s character is trying to be strong and positive and find her stardom. There seems to be a beleaguered messy look to Polly next to the huge billboards of a glammed up Amy. Polly appears minuscule, a caricature of her successful twin. The two sisters/one actor are cleverly filmed in the same scenes together. A great job of cross-cutting the film shows both at the dinner table with their parents and an argument in their childhood bedroom believably cuts from one to the other. Each character shows a unique wardrobe and makeup style to continue the illusion. And the quirky ensemble cast provides great support to Foulcher as roommates, parents, one night stands and agents.

The script is quick, snappy and keeps the audience in on the comedy. The use of music accompanied by sharp film editing by Ariel Shaw adds to the quick pace of this 85 minute movie. In one scene we see Polly on a bench waiting for a bus with loud rock music playing and the film jumps to a sedate quiet restaurant scene with her parents extolling Amy’s great success to Polly. We feel her confidence go from very high to very low as only a family dinner can take it. Another great scene is when Polly decides to find her dream in Los Angeles. On the plane filling out US entry forms, she debates and finally enthusiastically writes down “actor.” The scene immediately cuts to a very stark office where she sits opposite of a very stern immigration officer. He states that she has no interviews, no job, and she missed pilot season so she is definitely a tourist, not an actor. Hopes are dashed again.

This is a fun little film. We see the awkwardness of the situations played out on the screen and the ending is a good reward to the Polly/Amy rivalry. No one can steal your place. This is a good first feature film by Erdstein. I recommend you leave your stress behind, buy some popcorn and see this movie.

[Photo from IMDb]