30 October 2019
Paul Rudd’s goofy melancholy works because he’s one of us
He’s been dubbed the Most Wholesome Man in Hollywood. And perhaps that’s why Paul Rudd is the perfect guy to star in this dark, existential comedy. Because Paul Rudd, with his ruffled hair and his practical cotton tees and chinos, is as relatable as leaving Dis-Chem with a basket full of toiletries when you only went in for lip balm. We’re all Paul Rudd, minus the twinkling eyes.
But before we dive into this review, wipe from your mind everything you know about movies and series where an actor plays their own double. This Netflix Original isn’t the predictable fare of The Parent Trap or the Bluth twins in Arrested Development. Living With Yourself, with its double dose of Paul Rudd, is surprisingly fresh.
Meet Miles Elliot, a middle-aged, sloppy-dressing copywriter at Pool Marketing who is uninspired by this whole business of living your best life. He’s bitter, he’s depressed and his marriage to architect Kate (Aisling Bea, our new crush) is flatlining.
That is until a friend, who is killing at work, hands him a business card for a spa treatment that promises a new lease on life. Sceptical, Miles presents himself at the (seriously loopy) Top Happy Spa in a deserted strip mall – and wakes up buried alive in a shallow dirt hole in the woods.
Meanwhile, the new and improved version of himself (Miles 2.0 if you will), is in his house, in bed with Kate!
Now, this is where it gets interesting. You’re expecting the usual schpiel, where both versions of Miles must share a single life. And a single wife. And a single career. But it quickly becomes apparent that Miles 2.0 is the superior Miles in every way, but because he’s not the original Miles … well, it’s complicated.
Paul Rudd does a fantastic job of playing both versions of himself. As the original Miles, he is bleary-eyed and messy-haired, wearing spectacles and sweatpants. He’s also jealous and jaded and angry and really just the worst version of himself he could possibly be. As Miles 2.0 he is bright-eyed and optimistic, smarter and bolshy, and desperately in love with the wife who isn’t really his. There is not a moment during the eight episodes of Living With Yourself where it was distracting seeing two Paul Rudds on screen, so different were they from each other.
The story is told from several different perspectives, including from Miles 2.0’s and from Kate’s. And as you learn more about their lives, and their history together as a couple, you can’t help but become invested in a happy ending for both of them. You’re just not sure which version of “them” is the best one.
While Living With Yourself, which is also executive produced by Paul Rudd, is very much a one-man (err, two-man show), Aisling Bea is sublime in her portrayal as Kate, who is going through a mid-life crisis of her own and very much the Ginger Rogers to his Fred Astaire. We won’t spoil it, but there is a dance number in the final episode that is surreal and perfect and made us want to cry.
Living With Yourself is a sweet, funny and sometimes sad exploration of coping with life’s disappointments, how events shape us in beautiful and terrible ways, and most of all, that love is almost never logical or perfect, but it inspires us to be our best selves.
