'That's Not Me' is a delightful comedy centering on a pair of aspiring actors, Amy & Polly, twenty-something identical twins. When Amy lands a big role and becomes a celebrity, Polly is frequently mistaken for her. Polly becomes somewhat frustrated and jealous as she continues to work in a cinema candy bar. At one point she acts on an impulse and travels to LA to try her luck in Hollywood, with dramatic results.
The different career paths of the twins pivot on a point of principle where Polly feels a pang of conscience over 'whiting-up' to play an albino when she feels she would be depriving an albino actor of a rare role. She is less principled later on when she dangerously allows herself to benefit from her sister's celebrity. It's an original story, sharply scripted to alternate between being wickedly funny and sweetly tragic.
Although set in the world of film and actors, it is also a universal story of family dynamics and expectations. The twins' parents have instilled in them the notion that they can be anything they want, but they also seek to protect the girls from the disappointment of over-reaching. In this story, the twins offer alternative measurements of success and personal fulfillment.
For lovers of cinema, there are many touchstones throughout including references to the work of Sophia Coppola, David Lynch, Cate Blanchett and Jared Leto.
Alice Foulcher creates delicious and very funny girls-next-door characters, but she also elicits great sympathy, particularly for Polly, in her nightmarish circumstances. Foulcher is on-screen throughout, surrounded by an outstanding supporting cast as family and friends.
Identical twin stories on the screen famously include Bette Davis in 'Dead Ringers'', Nicolas Cage in 'Adaptation', Hayley Mills (& later Lindsay Lohan) in 'The Parent Trap' and most recently, Tom Hardy as the Kray brothers in 'Legend.' In 'That's Not Me' the doppelganger allows the playing-out of different scenarios in a life. It's not really 'Sliding Doors' or 'Run Lola Run', but perhaps more the multiple universes idea, or about a fork in the road, or the role of dumb luck.
Set mainly in Melbourne, 'That's Not Me' is deeply Australian without being ocker in any way, perhaps because it was written by Foulcher and director Gregory Erdstein while in Paris. It is really a snapshot of and challenge to the realities facing young women, especially in relation to employment, relationships and the narcissism of present day life in the western culture.
The debut feature from this gifted pair was independently produced and emerges as refreshing, funny and visually exquisite. 5 stars
