The Switch Reviews

I thought this movie was just so embarassing... I mean, I have a weak spot for romantic comedies but this was just plain average. In the same year, they managed to release 2 rom-coms dealing with artificial insemination and both were just terribly uninspired. At least, with 'The Back-Up', I enjoyed the chemistry between the two leads and, right from the start, they knew what was going on. Here, you just had this terribly annoying misunderstanding/lie trick stretched out forever... Once again, I felt so bad for Jennifer Anniston. I mean, she seems to be quite talented but she always ends up playing this kind of character in such boring movies. Justin Bateman also played his typical character but, at least, he made me laugh a couple of times. Eventually, I above all enjoyed Jeff Goldblum who made me laughed every time he was on the screen, even though his character was completely underwritten. I shouldn't even mentioned Juliette Lewis and Patrick Wilson who were completely wasted here. Basically, even though there was actually a fine cast, the story was just terribly pedestrian and I couldn't wait until it was finished. To conclude, it is a really weak romantic comedy and it is not really worth a look, even if you like the genre.

We know from the first moment that Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman will wind up together – because if Hollywood wants us to believe anything, it’s this: unless one of them is gay, a man and woman can never be anything but friends. Ever. The Switch tries to offer us something new, a different shade and texture into the romantic comedy formula, but it quickly turns trite and relies upon tired sitcom answers and responses to solve its questions. And since, as a quick Google search as informed me, it was based upon a Jeffrey Eugenides short story, the film’s reliance upon pat answers really spits in the face of not just the audience, but the desecrated source material as well.

Bateman’s inherent likability forces us to tolerate his neurotic asshole of a character. And the script always reminds us through his actions, and the reactions of those around him, that was never truly meant to be easily digestible rom-com fluff. And the ending’s tacked on happy ending creates choppy waters which the film never truly manages to float steadily on. Perhaps it was the casting of Jennifer Aniston that managed to turn this into dark, complicated fair and turned into an ugly step-sister that demands simple resolutions, and for its allegedly smart characters to never utter the one or two lines of dialog that would wrap up the whole conflict until the absolute best time – roughly thirty minutes before it’s supposed to end.

I sincerely liked, solely for one reason, the movie proposed something and fulfiled (something rare nowadays in romantic comedies), it was funny, cute, light, and of intelligence break, showing such how the world nowadays is accelerated and we are always leaving the essence aside, forgetting the small details of life and when we wake up the time got through.

Strengths: Acting performances (especially Thomas Robinson as Sebastian), believable chemistry between Aniston & Bateman, could relate to Bateman's character, good comedic and dramatic moments, story well-told, good soundtrack

Weaknesses: Predictable storyline that offers no surprises

Verdict: Not a must-see, but worth watching. I enjoyed it mostly because of the characters, especially the relationship between Wally Mars and Sebastian. I'd watch it again but probably wouldn't go out of my way to do so.