That’s Not Me (Gregory Erdstein, 2016): Australia | USA

Reviewed by Elijah Kimmel viewed in the Metro 4 Theare at the 2017 Santa Barbara International Film Festival

In all of our lives we have someone we compare our success to, this could be a sibling, a friend, or someone we went to school with. However unhealthy this comparison may be we still do it, causing  intense feeling of jealousy. That’s Not Me does a great job of tackling those symptoms of competition and jealousy in a humorous and touching way. The films is directed by Gregory Erdstein in his feature debut and starts his wife Alice Foulcher as Polly, the two also co-wrote the script together.

The film is about an aspiring actress named Polly Cuthbert who has an identical twin sister with the same aspirations. When her twin gets a part on a big HBO show and starts dating Jared Leto, it makes Polly go into a whirlwind of envy. Eventually she starts pretending to be her famous sister which only leads to bad things.

The film features a great comedic performance from Alice Foulcher who slowly descends into madness as her sister gets more and more famous. The film opens with a Polly giving an acceptance speech and as the camera pans out revealing her to be sitting on the toilet holding an air freshener as an Oscar. This scene perfectly sets the tone for the film and the character, she is essentially a girl who dreams of being famous but doesn’t want to work for it. Her character has a great arc that I think most audience members will appreciate and that conveys a very good message and avoids cliché. I also particularly love to hate the character of Oliver played by Rowan Davie. Oliver is essentially and asshole who you are supposed to hate, but he is a successful asshole. The lesson to be learned from him is that sometimes assholes succeed which is another one of the unpleasant truths that the Polly and many of us have to face.

That’s Not Me features funny performances from new actors and a touching message about comparing yourself to others that I think will resonate with many viewers. I hope the film gets an American release date or a digital release so you can all see it.

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Published:
02.19.17 / 2pm
Category:
Films, Santa Barbara Film Festival 2017