Plot: What’s it about?
Something that I really like about some of today’s movies is that fabled “What if…” scenario. While movies like “Run, Lola, Run”, “Sliding Doors” and “Go” explore different aspects of this type of movie, Me Myself I is just a continution of this. And I like it. Since this movie most noticeably resembles “Sliding Doors”, I’ll try to compare and contrast it to with that. Whereas Sliding Doors dealt with the the same woman who had her life come down to a little detail. Did she make the train or did she not make the train? The movie then splits in half from there and follows the same woman in her two different lifestyles since that simple act of fate changed her life. Me Myself I deals with the same woman who is literally thrust into another person’s life, but it’s her own life…just a different version of it. So odds are if you like one, you’ll like the other. Among other things, they both take place abroad, Sliding Doors takes place in London whereas Me Myself I takes place in Sydney (though you wouldn’t really know as it never really says). Like it or not, I think that these movies are here to stay, and the addition of a romantic element makes it all the more appealing to most folks. I said it before and I’ll say it again (trust me), if you like Sliding Doors, then this should be in your collection.
Pamela (Rachael Griffiths) has just turned the big “30”, and still single. Now what’s wrong with that? Nothing. She’s not bad-looking, she has a moderately successful career, but no love life to speak of. After what seems to be another failed date, she’s at home going through old things and can’t help but to wonder what life would be like had she married her true love, Robert (David Roberts). Robert, in her “normal” life has married a friend of theirs who makes Pamela sick just at the thought of it. And Pamela starts to wonder when her dream man will come along. Well, along comes Ben (Sandy Winton), a counselor for troubled women who teaches them self-defense at a local gym. Pamela, on research for a story (she’s a writer) meets him, they seem to hit it off and all of the sudden Pamela has a new zest for life. But, while delivering Ben some documents, she sees that he is apparantely married with two kids. Not good for Pamela. Getting drunk and taking a bath, Pamela is literally on the verge of suicide (even to the point where she has a hair dryer dangling above her bath water), when all of the sudden…the power goes out and her life is “spared”.
The next day comes and while being harassed to take a survey by a local man, she takes off across the street and is “hit” by a car. She comes to and sees herself (literally), and it’s not long that she figures out that she has fallen into a world where she has married her dream man, Robert. Seeing that being married with kids is all she’s thought it to be, it’s quite a shock. Now Pamela has no idea how she got where she is or when or if she’ll get back to her normal life. But she tends to go with it until she runs into Ben in her “new” life. I can’t really say much more without giving away too much of the plot, but like in Sliding Doors, let’s just say that things happen for a reason and things seem to stay “normal” that way, no matter what little roadblocks tend to come up. That’s the way it is in movies, anyway. I found Me Myself I to be a fun movie, and (told you I’d mention it again), if you’re a fan of Sliding Doors, Go or Run, Lola, Run (maybe even Mr. Destiny), you’ll want to at least view it once. The only thing that troubled me was the inclusion of some rather “questionable” things. We see Pamela struggle to put in her diaphram (a birth control device) and a whole scene is devoted to her daughter, uh, “becoming” a woman (you figure it out). I felt that we could have done without that, but it’s an Australian movie, so maybe they like that kind of stuff…who knows. I know this, I liked Me Myself I, and I’m a huge fan of Rachael Griffiths ever since Hilary and Jackie. Imagine what your life would be like if you don’t see this DVD!
Video: How does it look?
Columbia continues to produce top of the line DVD’s and it’s encouraging to see them take the extra time to give a small, independent movie like this a dazzling 16:9 transfer. While there seem to be a few errors, it excels wheras “Sliding Doors” is non-anamorphic. The colors seem a bit muted at times, though the overall balance of the movie is good. I noticed a few artifacting errors, but nothing to take away from the clarity of the picture. Most of the shots are inside, so the controlled atmosphere adds to the quality of the picture. Black levels are on target and the edge enhancement is minimal. A nice transfer for a very nice film.
Audio: How does it sound?
Given a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is something that suprised me, but I was more suprised when I listened to it. I would expect a dialogue-driven comedy to be a lot less on the ears, but there are some scenes (especially those with thunder, and there’s quite a few) that really make the system work. A sequence in which Pamela sees a family while outside in the rain is another one that caught my ears. Dialogue is clean and clear, and about the only fault I can find is that some of the “dynamic” scenes seem a bit hollow. Overall, a good mix and a vast improvement over the included Surround mix.
Supplements: What are the extras?
It’s nice to see that Columbia, along with doing 16:9 transfers for most all their titles, is also adding some extras to their discs…even the lower-profile ones. Me Myself I features some trailers of other Columbia titles (28 Days, Crazy in Alabama and 28 Days to name a few), talent files and a full-length feature commentary. The commentary track is fun to listen to as Pip Karmel, the Director, talks about her budget issues with the movie. Pip was the Academy Award nominated Editor for Shine and her skills as a director shine in this film as well. She tends to avoid the long periods of silence that so many other commentaries tend to have. While the commentary isn’t one of the best I’ve heard, it’s a nice touch. Maybe Columbia is just covering themselves so they won’t have to go back and redo this movie as a “Special Edition” as they have with so many other titles. In any case, Me Myself I is a great little movie that has it’s fair share of extras. I recommend it.
