Mein Leben auf zwei Wegen

Based on the popularity of the TV show, "Six Feet Under", Rachel Griffiths is now getting the popular and critical recognition she deserves. But to really appreciate her breadth as an actress you must watch some of her earlier films, and "Me Myself I" is a good candidate. For one, it's almost a one-woman show, and Griffiths actually plays two parts.

We all wonder what would have happened if we'd made a critical life-decision differently. Driven, single professional, Pamela Drury (Griffiths), gets the chance to actually experience this 'what if'. Through some weird event, Pamela is thrust into an alternate reality where her new life is as if she had married her childhood sweetheart and settled down to some serious homemaking. At the same time, her double (the homemaker from the parallel reality), trades places with her and assumes the life of a single professional. I know it's confusing, and I can't explain it any better. If it sounds intriguing, rent the movie.

No denying the talents of Rachel Griffiths and her turn in this "dual" role shows that she is quite capable of carrying a film. Also, a great comic turn, with a flush of drama.

The film goes where we would all like to go, (It's a Wonderful Life style) the path not taken. Answers to the "what if's" that plague a person over time.

Terrific handling of the subject matter and great performances by the supporting cast.

Me, Myself, I combines two genres of romantic comedy: the "body swap" with the "what if?" story (you know, Dating the Enemy meets Sliding Doors). The film flounders a little in the first twenty minutes or so as it establishes Pamela (Rachel Griffiths), single and luckless in love. Pamela is a journalist, and has just met a fellow writer (Sandy Winton) who seems to be the perfect mate. Until she sees him with his kids... Pamela is wondering what her life would have been like if she'd married high school sweetheart Robert Dickson (David Roberts) when WHAM! she's hit by a car. She comes to in the arms of married Pamela (also Rachel Griffiths) who takes her home to her suburban house, three kids and married life with Robert.

This is writer-director Pip Karmel's first feature (she received an Oscar nomination for editing Shine). Karmel is obviously close to her material, but she's not overly protective of it - she wants us to enjoy her conception. She has the perfect star in Rachel Griffiths, who we're more used to seeing in supporting roles (most famously, Muriel's Wedding and Hilary and Jackie). She carried a film in Amy, but she played a glum, washed-out single mum. Here, she's a lot of fun. You want to know more about Pamela, and the subtle differences between the single and married Pamelas are simply, but impressively, conceived. She's well supported by David Roberts and Sandy Winton, as husband and potential boyfriend. Refreshingly for a romantic comedy, the men aren't thoroughly likeable or dislikeable. I found it easy to suspend my disbelief with Me, Myself, I. It's that rare beast: an Australian romantic comedy that's funny, and leaves you with a warm glow inside when it's over.

If Rachel Griffiths keeps this up, she is going to be a potent force in feature films. She continues to show her versatility in both dramatic and comedic roles. This delightful comedy reinforces the notion that you need to be careful what you wish for. Pamela Drury (Rachel Griffiths) is a successful journalist whois having a mid life crisis as another birthday rolls around. She is afraid that despite all she has accomplished, she might have been happier if she married Robert Dickson and raised a family.

One day, through mechanisms unexplained other than the magic of cinema, she is hit by a car while crossing the street by her twin, Pamela Dickson, whom I can only assume is living in some parallel universe. Drury discovers that Dickson is actually living the life she wondered about, married to Robert with three children. Suddenly Dickson disappears, leaving Drury in her place. Now Pamela begins to discover the multidimensional joys of marriage and family from the front lines. She is so ill equipped for the experience, that it produces a parade of comical situations that range from mildly amusing to absolutely hysterical.

This is a virtuoso performance by Griffiths, who has impressed me in every role I've seen her play. She was outstanding in `Hillary and Jackie' delivering a compelling dramatic performance of a complex character in a supporting role. In this film, she has the lead and she runs with it. At various times she is called upon to be dynamic, sexy, compassionate, affectionate, independent, helpless and despondent and she handles this incredible range fabulously in every case. She is a terrific comedian with excellent timing and a knack for physical comedy.

This is a very funny and enchanting film. `What If' movies seem to be popping up everywhere lately, and this is the best one I've seen. I rated it a 9/10. It is extremely entertaining and I recommend it highly. It is a shame it didn't reach a wider audience.

This movie is a true hidden gem. I cannot say too strongly - see it, see it see it. The premise of the movie might seem a little strained... and perhaps also overused - it's very much the same basic idea as the Nicholas Cage vehicle "Family Man", but with a female rather than a male protagonist. But this movie really works, on so many levels. Rachel Griffiths (Brenda from Six Feet Under) gives a lovely performance as the central figure, who finds herself at the verge of mid-life confronting and changing paths with an "alternate self". The movie is very funny in parts, in a slightly exaggerated but "spot on" way rather reminiscent of Bridget Jones' Diary. But I think this film actually manages to do as much in this way as BJD, whilst going considerably further in connecting with emotional realities and the sense of choices and consequences in life. It's not astoundingly deep, I guess. But it's very funny, moving and true. And fair, as well - it never gets preachy, or comes down with a trite "moral" on one side of a complex issue. I suppose the movie's most obvious appeal would be to women of a certain age either single and (to some degree) wishing they were married or married and (to some degree) wishing they were single. But I'd have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone.