Search - Me Myself I on DVD

This movie asks "What If?" But Ends on an Up Note

eurotrashgirl | 10/02/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Rachel Griffiths shines in this very entertaining/interesting Australian film about a woman trying to decide if she'd rather be Bridget Jones (a struggling Singleton with a great career, but no steady relationship/home-life), or a happily (?) married mother of two.In this film, the single and depressed heroine comes face-to-face with herself as a married mother of two. The man "she" has married is her ex from 13 years before, who she had always regretted breaking up with. A second man, who is another possible life-mate, is introduced to both of the women, with mysterious implications. The film goes on to explore the dimensions of each woman's life, the one, a single woman with a solid career in journalism who is independent but miserable and lonely, the other a mother who at times feels under-appreciated and as if her work at a woman's magazine is considered secondary to her role as wife and mother, and who at other times is ecstatic in the fulfillment and love that her family life gives her. The film is genuinely interesting/intriguing in its exploration of possibilities and second chances. Griffith's acting, especially after she "becomes," in an instant, a wife and mother after many sad years on her own, is very real and engaging. You identify with her right away, and think, "my god, how hard that would be, figuring everything out on the turn of a dime." It also makes you appreciate the sacrifices women make in their lives to be good wives and mothers, and at the same time, the amazing paybacks in love, intimacy and growth that these choices allow for. The movie is really about the incredible capacity of love to create self-renewal and allow us to live life more fully. It is about finding happiness with others, but shines a light primarily on the importance of finding happiness/contentment within ourselves, and how this can help to create the very relationships we seek to create and maintain. It gives you a lot to think about, but also makes you feel hopeful about life, in a real sense.I highly recommend this film to everyone, but especially women, and among women, especially 20-30 somethings. I found the first 20 minutes or so of this film somewhat awkward and less "on", but after that, the film/acting was incredibly realized. The second half of the film is better than the first, and Griffith's acting is top-notch. This film will reel you in, and by the end, you'll be completely transfixed and wondering what will happen next. Ends on a good note. 4 1/2 stars.(PS - This film is similar to Demi Moore's latest, "Passion of Mind," in which Moore plays one woman with two lives, and has to determine which one is real and which one is the dream. That film also delves into possibilities and fate and the choices we make, and the sometimes engimatic nature of indentity and happiness and fulfillment. )"

Not the Jim Carrey Movie! Better!

carol irvin | United States | 11/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had to take my nephew to see, "Me, Myself and Irene," the Jim Carrey movie with which this film is frequently confused. Theaters were even putting up signs explaining the differences between the two films since they were theatrically released at the same time. I can put the difference better than they did, however. This is the intelligent, thought-provoking film, which merges seamlessly with the romance genre and come-of-age choices while the other is the stupid movie my nephew made me sit through on a Saturday night with an audience in love with butt humor. How I wish my nephew had confused the two films! I cannot come up with a single criticism of this film. It sets out to show you what it would be like to live your life had you made other choices and then you go back into your original life and see if you can pick up better from there. Rachel Griffiths dominates the entire film and she faces all of the universal problems we women have been facing over the last few decades. The funniest parts are discovering what her life would have been like had she married "the man who got away.""