Switching Channels

I loved this movie. I thought Kathleen Turner and Burt Reynolds were great together. Christopher Reeves was perfect. I loved the inventiveness of hiding the criminal in the bottom space of the copier as opposed to the roll top desk used in His gal Friday. I am just sorry that this is not available anywhere. If you liked Burt in this try to find Rent a Cop with Liza Minelli. Forgive spelling error in actors names.

The Front Page is one of those theater properties that apparently is not tiring with the public any time soon. Either remaking it as a period piece the way Billy Wilder did or updating it like this film and switching it to broadcast television journalism the laughs are there and the issues are the same. The Broadway play and first film adaption with also talked about bloviating politicians who campaign on law and order. If anything it's worse now.

Howard Hawks saw the possibilities in The Front Page as a boy/girl romance by making the original role of the reporter as a woman. What he got was one of my favorite Cary Grant films. Switching Channels is a remake of His Girl Friday and the roles Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, and Ralph Bellamy played are now done by Burt Reynolds, Kathleen Turner, and Christopher Reeve. And of course Reynolds is now a news producer, Turner his ace reporter, and Reeve the handsome rich doofus she wants to marry.

Again it's an outrageously corrupt Ned Beatty playing the Cook County District Attorney who primarying the ineffectual Governor of Illinois Charles Kimbrough. He got a conviction on Henry Gibson for murdering a cop and he's looking to see that as Gibson burns in the electric chair, he can become governor and more. Kimbrough is the kind who takes a poll before he goes to the bathroom. But Gibson escapes on the night he's to die and sets off a whole chain of events in which elected officials are toppled, romance gets redirected, and corruption exposed.

It is fascinating how on track Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur were when they wrote The Front Page. We could remake it again updating it with internet journalism without too much of a change in the plot.

Start thinking of who could be the stars in yet a 21st century remake of this classic.

Christy is a news anchor on SNN, an all-news channel in Chicago. Her boss John "Sully" Sullivan is also her ex. Christy must go do lots of silly stories as part of her role as a journalist, and eventually she decides to take a vacation. That's where she meets Blaine, who is rich and perfect in every way, and Christy wants to move with him to New York City and host a morning show. Sully hates him and plots against him. Meanwhile, Christy has a chance to do something important before she moves on from real journalism. Ike Roscoe is on death row for a crime he didn't commit. Roy Ridnitz is running for governor but played a role in putting Ike away, and it would not benefit him politically if Ike got freed.

So how will Ike be rescued from his fate? The second half of this movie is nothing short of insanity, a wacky adventure that really makes this movie worth seeing.

Kathleen Turner and Burt Reynolds are good, if not necessarily great. Ned Beatty is over the top. Chris Kimbrough as the governor who could give Ike a reprieve is a moron. And Henry Gibson is great as the poor man who must be rescued because, after all, he didn't do it.

Christopher Reeve, on the other hand, is more Clark Kent than Superman. He just never quite achieves what he should. I didn't know who he was, but he didn't quite look like Richard Gere, or David Hasselhoff, or John Corbett. I just never could enjoy his character, except for the bizarre scene where Sully get his revenge.

The romantic comedy at the beginning is okay. It's the adventure toward the end that really makes this work.

Updating of "The Front Page" to 1988. Star reporter Christy (Kathleen Turner) on the Satellite Network News is burnt out. She takes a vacation and meets big, hunky, rich Blaine (Christopher Reeve) and falls in love (only in movies...). She plans to leave work to marry Blaine, but her ex-husband and boss Sully (Burt Reynolds) is unwilling to let her go and tries to sabotage their plans any way he can.

Not as good as 1940s "His Girl Friday" but not as bad as the 1970s "The Front Page"--it really does work. It's quick, loud and never stops moving (especially at the end). It also helps that the entire cast is in full throttle--Turner, Reeve and Reynolds are relaxed, eager and full of energy--they really put across the movie. Turner and Reynolds especially are surprising--who knew they could do comedy? And Reeve kids his goody two-shoes image and his Superman character (he's afraid of heights in this one). Also Ned Beatty has quite a few funny moments as a slimy politician.

The updating from the newspaper world to cable TV occasionally doesn't work and there are some really contrived situations here and there but not enough to destroy the movie. Also quite dated--get a look at those HUGE cordless phones! Still I enjoyed this film a lot.

A bomb (sadly) in its day--this deserves rediscovery.

This is my favorite comedy from the 1980's. I really wish this movie was out on DVD but for now I have to settle for my old VHS of it. It is a remake of the old Cary Grant "His Gal Friday" movie from the 1940's. Christopher Reeve, Burt Reynolds & Kathleen Turner play off one another and have great chemistry together. One funny scene has Christopher Reeve in a glass elevator having a panic attack because he has a fear of heights. This movie also stars Chris Reeve's "Superman I & II" co-star Ned Beaty as a crooked politician running for governor. All in all, this a highly fast passed, really funny comedy. I very much recommend renting this from your local video store.