I guess the directors of “The Switch,” Josh Gordon and Will Speck, were locked into the romantic comedy genre. How else can you explain the split personality of this movie? On the surface, this movie does follow the boy-meets-girl-boy-falls-in-love-with-girl-boy-loses-girl-boy-wins-girl formula and from the boy’s perspective, too. But Jennifer Aniston’s Kassie is the typical perky character she plays in most of her other rom-coms and there’s little chemistry with any of her co-stars. However, there is a secondary story, which results in several moving scenes between Jason Bateman (as Wally, a man-child who discovers maturity as he bonds with his son) and child actor Thomas Robinson (as Sebastian, a fatherless child yearning for an adult role model), which should have been the focal point. This relationship is the heart of “The Switch” and allows Bateman’s skillful acting to shine. Unfortunately, the directors spend too much time with cheap jokes and an exploration of a romance that really doesn’t work. If this is a successful comedy, it’s due to Jeff Goldblum, who plays Wally’s best friend. Unfortunately, he’s not given much screen time.
The story opens ‘seven years ago’ with best friends Wally and Kassie having lunch. Wally has loved Kassie for years but she relegated him to the ‘best friend’ category. Kassie announces that she’s going to get pregnant and wants Wally to help her find a suitable sperm donor. At Kassie’s insemination party, a drunk Wally substitutes the donor sperm for his own with little memory of the deed afterward. Kassie moves away from New York so she can raise her son in a different environment. Seven years later Kassie returns with her six-year-old son in tow. Sebastian is like a miniature Wally and that triggers Wally’s memory. But while Wally is trying to find the courage to tell Kassie, he becomes the go-to person to take care of Sebastian as she goes off on dates with another man. Essentially, the good parts of “The Switch” outweigh the bad and it is watchable, especially if you have a free afternoon where you can get matinee prices. Otherwise, wait for cable. 8/11/10
1 comment:
We saw this film early at the Blogger's UCLA movie class and met the co-directors. Josh Gordon and Will Speck exlained that with a tiny budget and a short time period in NYC to produce this film they seemed to have performed miracles while signing the leading actors and getting some great shots of New York City. I thought the film had some good moments and Jason Bateman was perfect for the role. You will like this movie!!
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