Paul (Jim Rothman) has a problem. He looks a lot like Matt Damon. Now, if he were trying to be an architect, a lawyer, or even a politician, this resemblance would be more of a curious novelty. However, when you’re trying to break into the same field as your well-known doppelganger, excessive resemblance can be a career killer.
While he tries to get his acting career moving despite his physical “handicap,” Paul works for Action Messenger Service, a delivery service that specializes in speedy transport of packages for the Hollywood industry. Paul is sure his luck is changing when he is specially requested to deliver a package from a producer he had previously auditioned for. Convinced that he was singled out for an unusual way for them to tell him that he got the role, he speeds to the producer’s building.
Once he gets there, however, he discovers that he simply happens to be the fastest delivery person Action Messenger Service has and the client chose his speed rather than his famous good looks. When he reminds the producer that he read for her, she confides that they are considering him for the role of a one-eyed German soldier and that, if he can make a 60 minute trip through LA to deliver a package in 24 minutes, she will put in a good word with her co-producer to select Paul.
Paul immediately rushes down to his car to deliver the package, only to run into problems with the package (which suspiciously consists of 5 pounds of raw meat) and then to find out that his car has died. Fortunately, one of his co-workers is making a delivery at the same building in his new birthday present, a 2008 Mustang Bullitt. Using blackmail to force his co-worker to surrender the keys to the car, Paul punches the accelerator and races off on a pell-mell dash to try to seize the reins of his own destiny.
The actual story for I’m Not Matt Damon is pretty cool, bearing a rather strong resemblance to Swingers in the final message: do what you’re passionate about doing and don’t let anyone stop you from doing it. The ability to incorporate action along with well-crafted visuals and tight audio really helped take you on a ride for the entire film.
The acting from writer/director Jim Rothman as Paul is interesting and compelling throughout the short. He makes you believe in who he is and curious as to whether he will be successful or not.
With that said, some of the larger secondary characters simply weren’t as believable or as compelling as Paul. This becomes a problem because, while you can believe in Paul, if you can’t believe in some of the people that make up the world he lives in, it takes you out of the story. I often encourage directors not to star in their own films for this very reason. While you might think this is because the directors have problems acting in their own films, in reality, the most common problems come from them having difficulty directing their co-stars because so much of their energy is devoted to their own character.
As I mentioned before, the ending works pretty well. While it may not be totally unpredictable, it’s pretty solid and I enjoyed it. Because it didn’t have any real flaws, I won’t put any spoilers into the critique related to it.
