The Other Me

Just the other day I made a comment here in a review for another film about how so much streaming has given us the opportunity to see unknown gems or films of interest that we never heard of or had the interest or opportunity to see in a theater. This is an example of the opposite providing us with a window to films that most would never want to see. I've no idea how to really review a film that is incomprehensible to me. I know some of the events I saw such as the beginning in which a man is told that he is going blind, his marriage is on the rocks and he meets a "mysterious" woman living in the forest that he seemingly falls for just about instantly. Very little after these facts make any sense to me. I first saw the lead actor here, Jim Sturgess, in the wonderful Across the Universe in 2007 in which he was both excellent as an actor and a singer and I predicted a big future. Despite working a lot, I'm not sure if he has ever been in a really good film since then, though that does not mean he is a bad actor and he even isn't bad here, though the character is absurd. The other two principals are Andreja Pejic as the woman in the woods and Antonia Campbell-Hughes as the unwanted wife. Pejic, at least here, cannot act and Campbell-Hughes is presented in such a dreary fashion it's hard to muster any interest in her. The writing here is a complete mess and this is an awful film.

Jim Sturgess gives a fantastic performance in this film made by a writer director with no real interest in making a movie. There are no stakes as Jim's character is an "architect" with only vague concept drawing of designs that will "change the world" taped to his wall.

The real issue with this film is that none of the post production departments were paid for their labor. The production used the 2020 lockdown as a paper thin excuse not to pay anyone. I was the sound designer / re-recording mixer and this production owes me over $20,000.00.

These filmmakers have abhorrent business practices. They only care about calling themselves filmmakers.

4 stars because the movie sounded good.

Probably for the wrong reasons...like the comment made by the supposed sound engineer of this movie in this comments section. But they're right...it DID sound good. Another reason their comment is interesting is that i can believe a lot of what was said in their commentary...like that the director/writer of the film wasn't really interested in making a movie...but just wanted to be seen(haha) as a film maker...because it was a movie with some ideas, none of them fleshed out in any satisfactory way to me...like a child's drawing. Stick figures. What i DON'T believe is the amount of money this person, the supposed sound engineer, says they're owed...20 million? PLEASE! That's how much SOME A list actors make.

The OTHER things i don't believe are the 10 ratings. I would bet 20 million that they're associated with the movie, or people who MADE the movie, in some way. Their comments are lies. EACH of them were first time reviewers.

It was BAREly interesting enough to make me watch it till the end... i guess i did in hopes that SOMEthing would be enlightening. Didn't happen for me...some parts connected, but it's nowhere as profound as it pretends to be.

The way I see this movie is quite straightforward - it makes you think. It pushes you to delve deep down your soul and find answers to something you see but can not perceive easily. The manner of direction is splendid - it's warm and cozy, with a touch of dreamy effect that makes you all enchanted until you see the final cut of the scene. It's lucid that people are tired nowadays. Most of them don't enjoy witnessing something that remains oblivious. They'd rather sit down with a sandwich and watch kitsch, or a crime story or a fervent romance that usually doesn't occur in life. What does transpire is the verity that we are born with a man and a woman living inside us. They navigate our life, they switch the driver's seat as required - they go hand in hand. It's just some people refuse to see it, some deny it. Some even don't realize it. But I believe that's one of the most important ideas of the film - to signify (in an artsy way) that the moment we acknowledge the aforementioned, the moment we accept it, only then we become complete.

This dreamy-like movie isn't perfect, but life isn't either. I love the non-linear approach of the theme, how it drives you beyond senses we usually perceive to the highs of truth and oneness.

The movie gets there. We are limited by what we see. We need to feel, to suffer, to elevate.

Carefully written stories like this broaden our perspectives to respect each other more. To allow ourselves to be who we are. To allow ourselves to get there.

By releasing the traumas and burdens of any kind, we become lighter. We are ready to see ourselves. To see the other side.