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What
did we learn from
The
Switch?
Well, we learned
that friends don’t
hijack other
friends’
pregnancies. It’s
not cool. If you see
somebody else’s
sperm on a hot plate
in the bathroom,
leave it there. It’s
not open for
inspection. Also,
Jason Bateman is
Jennifer Aniston’s
dream guy or some
other neurotic form
of him will be okay.
The
Switch
stars Bateman and
Anniston in a comedy
about best friends
who never became
quite more than that
because they were
too scared to take
it to the next
level. Wally and
Kassie have been
friends for forever.
They started out
dating, but for some
reason they ended up
just being friends
and staying friends.
Eventually as they
grow older Kassie
starts to worry
about her biological
clock and she
decides that she
needs to get
pregnant and have a
baby herself without
worrying about the
right man. So she
goes her own route,
finds some sperm,
has the world’s
weirdest pregnancy
party, and gets
pregnant. Only
during the world
baby-making shindig,
a drunken Wally
stumbles into the
bathroom and spills
the
previously-mentioned
sperm on a hot plate
in the sink. He
replaces it with his
own and forgets what
he did the next day.
Kate
gets pregnant, she
moves away and seven
years later she
returns with young
Sebastian. A 7-year
old kid who looks
and acts exactly
like Wally.
Eventually of course
they’re going to
live happy ever
after, it’s a
romantic comedy. But
that doesn’t mean
that there aren’t
plenty of laughs
involved.
Jason
Bateman made
The
Switch
for me. He was funny
in his typical
sarcastic way but he
also showed a ton of
range that I didn’t
even know he had.
His interactions
with Sebastian
(young Thomas
Robinson) were
priceless on film.
Aniston was good as
Kassie, she usually
is. She’s not
amazing or anything
like that, but she
has a line towards
the end of the movie
that she drills…
really that made her
performance
fantastic. You also
have to give some
serious credit to
the young Thomas
Robinson. He did a
wonderful job as
Sebastian and he
delivered a great
performance at the
age of 7. The script
is as good as the
acting here too. I
was delighted that
directors Will Speck
and Josh Gordan
didn’t do the
typical ending route
for these types of
movies. The kid
didn’t get lost in
the city with a
desperate search to
find him leading to
the family coming
together… the family
just came together
how they were
supposed to. It’s a
movie that felt
real. There wasn’t a
typical romantic
comedy movie vibe to
it and it made the
film for me.
Jason Bateman and
the rest of the
actors are great in
this movie. But the
lone problem with it
comes from the early
pacing. It takes way
too long to set
things up. Really
the movie is 50
minutes of set up
and what happens
after that. That
needed to be
changed. We needed
more interaction
between Sebastian
and Wally before the
big reveal to Wally.
There needed to be
more content inside
of that situation
instead of
everything that led
to the situation.
That’s the lone
criticism for this
movie. Acting was
good, direction was
great, script was
good, but the plot
was just a tad
lacking.
As for bonus
features on this Blu-ray
there are three
features. There are
deleted scenes with
an alternate ending.
(Thank goodness they
didn’t keep the
original ending.)
Then there’s a gag
reel that’s roughly
four minutes long.
The main feature is
a making-of
featurette that’s
fifteen minutes
long. It talks about
the actors in the
movie, the directors
of the movie, and
how it was made. End
of story. There’s
not a lot here, but
there’s nothing that
I can think of off
the top of my head
that’s missing
either.
The
Switch
was a good movie. It
could have been
better, that’s for
sure but it’s good
for what it was.
Jason
Bateman was
fantastic in the
film and directors
Will Speck and Josh
Gordan teamed up for
a great film getting
a lot out of their
actors and making a
good date night
movie. Not an
amazing movie, but
it won’t miss if
you’re looking for
something casual to
watch.
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