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While this one came out around the same time as other 'Body Swap' movies, and is usually blown off by most people as an inferior product. I just want to defend this flick for a bit.

Yes, it's a bit predictable, the script isn't the best out there, and it will never be considered a great classic, but the performances of Messrs. Reinhold and Savage are completely believable. In fact, I thought Reinhold's work in this one got overlooked. I'm not complaining about Tom Hanks' job in 'Big,' but I thought that since Hanks was playing an adolescent boy in a man's body, he played it a bit young. Reinhold, on the other hand, was playing a 9 or 10 year old boy, therefore his portrayal was easier to buy into.

Fred Savage does a very good job as the thirty-something man trapped in the body of a boy. The real selling points of these portrayals is in the details. Watch as Savage gives his 'son' encouragement, or Reinhold's uncertainty in dealing with the world.

As I said, a classic? Nah, but a fun afternoon of family entertainment? You bet!

An ancient, mystical skull stolen from a Thai temple makes trouble for our two stars. Judge Reinhold is divorced, workaholic department store executive Marshall Seymour, Fred Savage is his 11 year old son Charlie. The skull magically allows them to switch bodies. Now Marshall has to deal with school, bullies, and a teacher he thinks is a harridan, and Charlie has to bluff his way through Marshalls' job, and deal with the needs of Marshalls' girlfriend Sam (Corinne Bohrer).

As this "body switch" genre goes (it was certainly popular during this period), this is definitely one of the better ones. It may be the furthest thing from original, but it works rather well thanks to some bright writing from Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais (whose other credits in both film and TV are numerous). They commit to being at least somewhat believable, but the real bright spots of the picture are Reinhold & Savage. They totally commit to their characters and situation, and are a blast to watch. Of course, the expected reactions from onlookers when "Charlie" talks nothing like an 11 year old, and "Marshall" gets frequently befuddled, add to the merriment. And young Charlie is an aspiring musician and hair metal enthusiast (!), so watching Reinhold jam on the drums is a welcome highlight.

The cast is rock solid and full of familiar faces: Swoosie Kurtz, David Proval, Jane Kaczmarek, William Prince, Gloria Gifford, Beverly Archer, Richard Kind, Ajay Naidu (just a kid himself then), Elya Baskin, James Hong, and Jane Lynch (in her film debut). Under-rated 80s babe Bohrer is charming as the love interest; Kurtz and Proval are appropriately odious villains. Reinhold, who saw his career start to head South after the box office failure of this one, really doesn't get enough credit for this performance, and young Savage is equally his match, the way that he spews out some of his dialogue.

Like a lot of stories, it eventually builds to an action-packed finale, which is amusing to say the least.

Good of its kind; it may follow an ancient Hollywood formula, to be sure, but it sill wins one over. It's got some real heart as it spins its "walking a mile in another persons' shoes" yarn.

Seven out of 10.

VICE VERSA is basically a gender variation on the 1970s film FREAKY Friday, in which Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage play a bickering father and son whose roles are reversed thanks to a magical Thai artefact. I have to say that I always love the tinges of the supernatural in these family movies from the era; the writer goes out of his way to set up the story with the early scenes set in Thailand itself and featuring veteran actor James Hong in a typically creepy performance.

What follows soon turns into your usual 1980s-era comedy with much in common with the Tom Hanks movie BIG. It's also on the same level as that film, although it lacks a big and memorable set-piece like the Hanks/Loggia dance-off and the sight of Reinhold playing the drums doesn't really cut it. I'm always wary of these films as occasionally they become overly sentimental but I can report that VICE VERSA walks a fine line without ever crossing it. Fred Savage is excellent in a star-making turn (I used to love watching him in THE WONDER YEARS) and the underrated Reinhold holds his own against the greats of the decade. It's a fun and light movie, nothing more, but it holds your attention throughout.

This movie is not the one people think of when talking about those "body switching" comedies that came out between '87 and '89. Big always gets the attention, but for my money Vice Versa is funnier, smarter and more memorable. Judge Reinhold didn't get the Oscar nomination that Tom Hanks scored, and more or less dropped off the face of the earth after making this movie (except, of course, for "Daddy's Dyin'...Who's Got the Will"). He was in several '80s blockbusters and stole many scenes in them (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Beverly Hills Cop and its sequel, Ruthless People....) But this movie is his shining hour, where he is believable and funny as both the uptight adult and the 11-year old kid. Fred Savage is equally good--very convincing when he becomes his dad. The movie builds up its jokes nicely, and has a Capra-esque quality to it. It also makes terrific use of character actors Swoosie Kurtz and David Proval, who is light years away from his Sopranos character. The fact that this movie is lumped in with lesser films like 18 Again and Like Father Like Son baffles me. This one is definitely in the league with Big.

Vice Versa is a 1988 comedy that follows a father and son who switch bodies after touching a magical Tibetan skull that releases a mysterious power.

There's a lot of body swapping movie out there and some range from great to pretty bad, Vice Versa falls somewhere in the middle. Although this movie is based on a concept that has been done more than enough times, it still remains to be fun and sort of charming. Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage are actually pretty funny together playing father and son trying to navigate their way through each others lives until they can find a way to swap back. The jokes are silly and somewhat cliche, but still manage to be entertaining with certain moments in the film.

I've liked this movie since I was a kid, and if you haven't seen it before, It's worth checking out at least once.

I don't think they could've cast this movie any better. You've got Fred Savage, a kid who - to my knowledge - never, ever came off as a kid in anything he ever acted in, and you've got Judge Reinhold, a guy who generally just always has a certain youthfulness to him, both cast in another take on the "Freaky Friday" formula. Before the switch, Fred Savage is every bit as awkward as you can imagine in his role as Judge Reinhold's character's son. From the moment the switch occurs, however, hilarity ensues, and both Fred Savage and Judge Reinhold nail their reversed roles.

The amazing thing is that this film was written and produced by Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais, the people responsible for the Ronnie Barker comedy, Porridge. Judge Reinhold & Fred Savage play father and son respectively and both do considerably well with the material to hand. With both proving to have a nice line in comic timing. Sure it's not genre defining or exceptionally hard, but the tidy writing throws up amusing scenarios that both of them utilize to the maximum. Winning scenes come by way of the school and the workplace of the respective individuals, while the involvement of the ex- wife/mother and Sam (Corinne Bohrer) the girlfriend create some nice light hearted touches.

Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Precious, predictable comedy has overworked father Judge Reinhold and pre-teen son Fred Savage switching personalities after getting hold of one of those movie-formula ancient mystical artifacts. Hoary premise plays like just another "Freaky Friday" retread, however it gives Reinhold the opportunity to really cut loose, and he has fun (although his overacting is shameless). Savage, then-star of TV's "The Wonder Years", fares even better, doing his wiser-than-his-age shtick with letter-perfect ease (he's a natural). There are some laughs, although the whole thing bottoms out in the final stretch with a ridiculous car-chase. Smart viewers will have bailed out by then. *1/2 from ****

What a blast from the past this movie was! Debuting in 1988, I hadn't seen Vice Versa for at least 10 or so years. I was so happy that Encore recently featured this classic on its lineup. This movie came out right around the time that Fred Savage was starring in The Wonder Years on prime-time television. Judge Reinhold was fresh off of his Beverly Hills Cop stint(s).

While Vice Versa is your campy, PG-rated family film, it was hysterical and followed in form with 18 Again! with George Burns, Big with Tom Hanks and Like Father Like Son with Dudley Moore. It also inspired more recent movies such as Freaky Friday with Jamie Lee Curtis (some would say that Freaky Friday is the female version of Vice Versa).

Hollywood goes through periods where every studio appears to come out with a movie in the same area. Vice Versa, represents a Hollywood fad for body swap movies without the aliens.

Judge Reinhold plays this movie for all it's worth, but even with Fred Savage as his son, this is still a flat and formulaic family comedy, which cannot hold a torch to the very good Big, with Tom Hanks, which came out at around the same time.

A movie to be lost in time and forgotten, thankfully.

Marshall Seymour (Judge Reinhold) is an executive for a high end department store who is struggling with balancing his relationship with his son Charlie (Fred Savage) from his failed marriage while also juggling a new South China Seas initiative for his company and his relationship with his girlfriend Sam (Corinne Bohrer). When Charlie's mother and stepfather embark on a trip, Charlie is left with Marsahll who experiences friction with Charlie as each feels the other has it better. When the two make a wish of being each other while holding an ancient Tibetan skull relic the two find themselves in each other's bodies leading to shenanigans as the thieves who stole the relic Lillian and Turk (Swoosie Kurtz and David Proval) want back their misplaced score.

Vice Versa is the first of five body switching comedies that came about during the period of 1987-1989 (the others being first release Like Father Like Son, and subsequent releases 18 Again!, Big, and Dream a Little Dream). Released roughly five months after Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa actually did have some critical support from the likes of Roger Ebert and Leonard Maltin with praise going to the two leads while feeling the film itself wasn't all that special. Unlike Like Father Like Son which managed to score a decent if unexceptional box office haul of $35 million, Vice Versa quickly fell out of the box office earning only $14 million against a $10 million budget. While Vice Versa isn't anything too outstanding, it's a likable comedy that makes up for its familiar formula with solid chemistry from its leads who have good chemistry with each other.

While the film structurally speaking is very similar in structure to the prior year's Like Father Like Son, it features two major differences that help it immensely. 1St, it allows for more time for Reinhold and Savage to play against each other (both pre and post switch) giving a greater sense of personality and comic friction once said personalities transfer between actors and 2nd, it also gives a sense of an emotional arc to both characters so it actually feels like they learn something about each other as opposed to Like Father Like Son where it just came out of nowhere in the last 20 minutes to give some semblance of a point to what was an endless parade of inanities. Both Savage and Reinhold are clearly having a blast playing each other and there's some good chemistry and comic friction mined from the situation as a result. Savage does well playing an adult frustrated at being trapped in a kid's body (even if there's an over-reliance on the amount of material mined from him swearing and drinking) and Reinhold brings a lot of youthful energy and exuberance to his portrayal. Vice Versa isn't an overlooked classic or anything as it adheres very closely to the formula of this kind of film, but it's likable and well-made enough that it's a decent diversion and revisit of the formula even if it doesn't shake from convention.

Vice Versa is the kind of movie that the word "solid rental" was made for as it has a familiar high concept hook that's brought to life through its two talented leads elevating the material. It's definitely a case study on how a familiar template can be done well (this) versus terribly (Like Father Like Son) despite having the same structure and its really the little details and the care of those details that make something like this enjoyable.

After finding a magic artefact, a father and son switch bodies and are forced to live each others lives. Stars Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage.

A bit like Tom Hank's 'Big' except worse. Fairly predictable, if not dull plot; there are far better comedies than this.

"Vice Versa" is a very funny, very sweet comedy about a father and son who switch bodies thanks in part to a mysterious Thai skull that they both just happen to be touching at the same time (not to mention making an unintentional wish that they could trade places with each other). Judge Reinhold ("Beverly Hills Cop") and Fred Savage (TV's "The Wonder Years") are dynamite in their roles as the father and son who have to get used to doing things that they're not used to doing (the father goes to school; the son goes to work, etc.). "Vice Versa" has lots of big laughs and is perfect for the entire family. The film, shot almost entirely in Chicago, also uses the Chicago locations to good effect. A hilarious film from start to finish, and it's easily the best of the body switching movies that came out in 1987/1988 ("Like Father, Like Son", "18 Again", and "Big" were the others). I still can't understand why this movie flopped at the box office in 1988. The thing that shocks me is that "Like Father, Like Son" was the worst of these movies, and it made more money than "Vice Versa". I can't figure that one out. "Vice Versa" has 100 times more laughs than "Like Father, Like Son" ever had. Sometimes I can't understand these moviegoers. And in this case, the fact that "Vice Versa" faired poorly at the box office when released in 1988 to me remains an enigma. I saw this movie in a packed movie house on it's opening weekend and everyone (including myself and a friend of mine) was laughing out loud while watching it. It's that funny of a movie.

***1/2 (out of four)

One of the many 80's comedies to deal with kids ending up in an adults body (the genre that recently saw a resurgence with Freaky Friday etc) and it has to be said one of the best. Judge Reinhold was a good casting choice and he is pretty convincing but perhaps a bit to over the top and not as subtle as Tom Hanks in Big. Fred Savage is excellent playing older and he probably has as many funny lines if not more than Reinhold.

It's easy to be cynical about a film like this but if you watch it for what it is a bit of bright breezy escapism it succeeds in what it set out to do. Personally I'd recommend it most to 80's nostalgia fans or those looking for a fun film for the family as it's fun for the adults and the kids. For the 80's fans out there this is probably in 2nd tier of 80's films not a classic like Big, Ferris Bueler or the mighty Breakfast Club but certainly fun and a bit of a guilty pleasure like Mannequin etc.

6/10 - Funny, entertaining and doesn't overstay it's welcome.

In 1988 there were a slew of body swap films with Tom Hanks in Big leading the way at the box office.

Vice Versa is based on a novel of the same name published in 1882. This is the fourth screen adaptation of the book.

It is light on its feet and inoffensive with little of substance to offer. This time an ancient skull from Thailand is the conduit for father and son to swap places and see things from each other's viewpoint, especially as the son wants his divorced father to spend more time with him.

It now has that very 80s vibe helped by the music and editing styles. It also offers amiable support from it two stars.

Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage are likable, Jane Kaczmarek is delectable. It is an average family film.

Vice Versa, despite the trite plot, distinguishes itself from other 80s body-switching comedies, because of the age and personality difference between the two characters. To watch Judge Reinhold act like a wild ten year-old trapped in an adults body and Fred Savage to act like a short-tempered middle aged man trapped in a child's body, it makes fine family fun and hilarious comedy. I think, in fact, it is Judge Reinhold in one of his finest moments, being allowed to act like a wild kid, curiously handling adult responsibilities with a child's touch.

Marshall (Judge Reinhold) and his girlfriend take a business trip to Southeast Asia to order some cheap vases for their company's Christmas stock. The shipments get mixed up, and Marshall gets his hands on a strange looking sacred golden skull with mysterious powers that was supposed to be given to some bumbling theives who were going to sell it for a hefty price.

Meanwhile, Marshall's son, Charlie (Fred Savage) is miserable, having to spend the holidays with his dad, an uptight work-a-holic who never seems to have time for Charlie, and usually scoffs at Charlie's suggestions for a little adventure. Charlie was optimistic about the vacation, but it seems that the two just can't get along at all. During an argument about how the other doesn't understand what it's like to be a kid/adult, they get their hands on the skull, and one...two...switcheroo. Charlie becomes Marshall and Marshall becomes Charlie.

Like I said, the thing that makes this movie better than say, 'Like Father, Like Son' which is essentially the same deal (father and son switch), is the contrasting personalities and age differences of the two characters. Judge Reinhold goes from uptight middle-aged guy to a kid who's perpetually stoked about everything. He really turns things around in Marshall's life. And Charlie goes from regular little kid, to something of an arrogant smart-ass. Like 18 Again!, the characters are perfect for a story like this.

Has anyone ever written a book about how scripts get into development and then more than one studio makes, if not the same movie exactly, then at least the same premise.

And on top of that, one movie becomes a minor classic while the other sinks without a trace, never to be heard from ever again.

Is there anybody who hasn't seen Big with Tom Hanks, one of America's most beloved comic actors of the era (take my word for it, young people of tomorrow). Did more than 20 people see Vice Versa when it was released.

The irony is that as the years have worn on, a retrospective look at Hanks and his oeuvre often reveals an overly sentimental, shouty, one-trick pony. His career was surely saved by being cast in Philadelphia. His co-star in the movie was a no-talent brat whose name I don't even remember.

On the other hand, Vice Versa has the charming Judge Reinhold who, as far as I know, has never opened his yap to support the election of a senile hair sniffer who hates America. And that's to say nothing of Fred Savage. I'm not sure I've seen him in anything other than the fantastic The Wonder Years and his cameo in the Seinfeld episode where Kramer pitches him a script. Savage absolutely nails the role here. It's Hollywood's loss that he hit puberty without actually growing. He's a comedy natural and should be in a lot more productions.

All in all this a genial, family-friendly comedy with a lot of quotable lines:

Could I have a newspaper.

I'm calling my secretary.

I don't suppose you have any Grey Poupon.

It's a Freudian nightmare.

He's something of an enigma.

Have you done this before.

Get off the line, you pervert.

Would absolutely watch again.

It seems like every decade, Hollywood makes a movie about two people changing places in their bodies. It's usually by some magic bottle, antique object or potion. I have watched several such films. Not all are comedies, but most are. Some are good, some are hokey or bad, but seldom is there a very good one.

Among the very good ones I have seen are "Turnabout" of 1940, and "Big" of 1988. The popularity of that one apparently led to a splurge of body exchange films. There is very little change in the plots of these films - just different settings. Person A thinks Person B has a better life, and vice versa, and so they are exchanged in the other's body. Most learn to appreciate the difficulties of the other person. Some lead to calamities and others to humorous situations

But, since the plot is formulaic for most of these films, and there is little if anything new, the only thing that might set them apart - make one film stand out over the others, is in the actors and how they play the characters. With that build-up, I think that this film, "Vice Versa," is above most of this sub-genre. And, it is due mostly to the two lead actors. Judge Reinhold does a superb job in moving from the serious Marshall to the boyish Charlie. And Fred Savage is outstanding in taking on the adult persona that had been Marshal. He, especially, is so good that after a while it's not difficult to imagine that he's really the Marshall character, mind and soul inside the body and voice of the young Charlie.

This is a very amusing and enjoyable film that has a first rate ending for this father and son team. "Vice Versa" is head and shoulders above the bulk of body-switch films made since the late 1980s.

Here are my two favorite lines from this film.

Chalie's mom, Robyn, leaves the room where she has just seen Marshall, in Charlie's body, drinking a martini. Robyn says, "Your mother knows it's your father who turned you into a foul-mouthed alcoholic."

Marshall, in Charlie's body and voice, tries to make a hurried phone call and the operator says "Get off the line, you pervert."

A magical Buddhist skull has been stolen from its temple. Marshall Seymour (Judge Reinhold) is a high-powered VP purchasing executive for a Chicago department store. He's on a buying trip in Thailand with girlfriend assistant Sam (Corinne Bohrer). Turk (David Proval) buys the skull and smuggles it inside Marshall's cargo. Turk and Lillian Brookmeyer (Swoosie Kurtz) are looking to retrieve their skull. Marshall is the often-absent father to Charlie (Fred Savage). His ex-wife Robyn (Jane Kaczmarek) leaves Charlie with him for a few days. They have a fight and the skull magically transforms them.

The first obvious solution is for both of them to go to his job while calling in sick for the school. I would buy it more if Charlie refuses to go to Marshall's work. This is basic but weakly written body switching story. Both Reinhold and Savage are overplaying their switched personalities. Much of it is in the writing but they are able to get it back to some extend.

Judge Reinhold may be one of the typecast 'geek wins back' sensitive and caring characters of the 1980s, and whilst in the last two decades that kind of character may have become unfashionably clichéd, we still have to look at his quality of acting in these kind of roles and see how well he did.

In Vice Versa, he's at his ostensible peak here, and like child actor Fred Savage (who's also been similarly typecast as the 'smarter than his age' child prodigy both in films and probably his real life), they really act well in concordance with the script that's been written for them. They have great on screen antics, not to mention the humorous exchanges that ride on playful charm and naivete, as well as delightfully realistic banter. In many ways other than the above-mentioned, Reinhold and Savage are so alike too. They both play off each other well, are convincing in their roles insofar as they are both pretty much able to let us enjoy the fact that yes, Reinhold can act as an tenth grader and Savage can speak like an adult! The saddest thing is that the parallels between these two actors don't stop just in the film, but perhaps now in retrospect, were the stories of their acting careers: both failed to break the mould of such role typecasting!

This film begins in Thailand with a department store executive by the name of "Marshall" (Judge Reinhold) and a female colleague named "Sam" (Corinne Bohrer) looking for exotic items that they can possibly sell for a profit back in the United States. To that effect, Marshall finds a porcelain vase and proceeds to buy over a hundred of them in the expectation that their markup price will yield a huge profit. Meanwhile, some smugglers have managed to illegally acquire a rare and extremely valuable skull-shaped religious object which, on the black market, would be worth a fortune. It's during this time that one of the smugglers named "Turk" (David Proval) learns that Marshall has been preapproved to have his vase sent through customs and, being the crafty person that he is, Turk substitutes the valuable religious device for the vase so that they both objects make it into the United States without any problem. Then, once in the United States, Turk's boss "Tina" (Swoosie Kurtz) calls Marshall and arranges to give him the vase for the religious object. As expected, Marshall readily agrees as he needs the vase to show to his supervisor "Avery" (William Prince) at the next board meeting. Unfortunately, not long after talking to Tina, Marshall and his preteen son "Charlie" (Fred Savage) get into a heated argument and accidentally energize the exotic object which transfers their identities from one to another--and this is just the beginning of their problems. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I found this to be one of the better comedies involving soul transference with both Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage putting in rather solid performances. Slightly better, in my opinion, than the film "Like Father, Like Son" which was produced a year before. In any case, while I don't consider this to be an outstanding comedy by any means, it was a pleasant way to spend 90 minutes or so, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

A movie that was featured multiple times on TV while I was growing up, and although I never got a chance to watch it back then, the title's been floating around in my subconscious since then. After about 20 years I have come around to watch it, which I guess is a quick turnaround for me, but I digress. The movie itself presents an interesting premise, through a series of mishaps featuring a magical artefact stolen from a Buddhist temple, father and son gets switched around, and "son" needs to hold it up in 5th grade while "dad" goes off to work. So far so standard, if you've seen any other body swap-movie before, it's pretty obvious where the plot goes after that. What keeps this movie going is the at least somewhat passable humour of the expected awkwardness when people are thrown into the deep end and need to pretend like everything's okay. There's enough charm and warmth to keep it going, and had me laughing at least a few times. I do think Reinhold kind of overplays the awkwardness of his son, however that could also be interpreted as the character still reeling from the shock of suddenly having to pretend to be an adult and not knowing what's actually expected of him. Fred Savage does quite an impressive impersonation of his father character, showing that young children really do understand more than one might think.

While my ultimate goal with a review is to reveal as little as possible of the story to avoid spoilers, I feel I must draw attention to what is possibly the most peculiar section of a department store I've ever seen, featuring James Bond-level spy-gadgets, something that caught me completely off-guard and got me wondering what kind of movie this really is. Considering it already features said magical artefact, I guess it's not too much of a stretch to include improbably gadgetry.

All in all a fairly enjoyable watch, but sadly I feel it's ultimately forgettable, and at least for a modern audience that has seen other body swap-movies already, it's more of a curiosity that's been copied and done over again at least a few times by now. There's nothing wrong with it in that regard, but if it came down to rewatching this or 'Freaky Friday', I'd probably go with the latter simply because of the one song in the soundtrack that movie is most famous for.

I vaguely remember enjoying this film as a child. Watching it a 2nd time now as a middle-aged man sheds a whole new light on this outstanding piece of work. There are parts that I'm sure I didn't find humorous back then that were absolutely hysterical this time around. Very subtle adult themes that went over my head now struck me as very clever.

I'm very happy to have stumbled upon this movie again. I highly recommend this film, especially to those that remember viewing it back in the 80's. I've found it to be more enjoyable than Big or any of the other body swap movies of that time.

Plot Summary: A weird oriental skull manages to make a father and son switch bodies, after the father and son make a wish they regret.

Ah; The 80's. How I miss you sometimes. I often lament my frustrations on all the lame stuff that comes out today. Vice Versa won't win any awards for authenticity or originality, but for entertainment purposes it does the job rather decently. There are many gags in this film that are completely unbelievable and often ridiculous, but it's done with such charm, and it's so fun, that I didn't care. It helps that Judge Reinhold & Fred Savage make such a likable pair. Judge isn't afraid to make a fool of himself in this movie. He gives a fully committed & brave performance that is an absolute blast to watch. Fred Savage is pretty entertaining himself as the kid acting like the adult. He had some funny lines, and had excellent charisma with Reinhold. This is NOT a family film. It does have family orientated stuff in it, but it does have strong stuff in its approach at times. It has strong language and some strong situations. It's a fun time waster, but be prepared if you want your kids to see it.

Final Thoughts: It's nothing all that special, but it managed to entertain me and pass the time perfectly. What more can you really ask for with a film like this?? If you need a good laugh, and something to watch on a dreary day, this might just do the trick for you.

6/10

"Freaky Friday" was about a girl and her mother who switched bodies and had to cope with the outcome for a brief time period. The girl took the job, the mother took school. The film has been remade at least twice that I can think of off hand, once in 1995 for television with Shelly Long, and again this year with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan.

The formula was put to bad use in 1987's "Like Father, Like Son," which starred Dudley Moore and Kirk Cameron as father and son (respectively, of course) who swap places after a freak accident. A year later there was a movie about a father and son who swapped places and tacked work and school. It was called "Vice Versa," and I consider it the greatest of all these films.

What is Hollywood's fascination with swapping parent with child? It almost surely has something to do with cash. But, alas, I do not think that it is the fascination with swapping parent and child as much as just swapping in general. These body swap films were extremely popular during the 80s, but lately we've been seeing a revival of the formula, with Rob Schneider in one of the worst films of 2002, "The Hot Chick," and then the "Freaky Friday" remake.

There are lots of action films released every year. There are lots of comedies and dramas released every year, too. But I think you will be hard pressed to find the majority of those action films all about a guy stranded inside a building being taken over with hostages. I think you will be hard pressed to find the majority of dramas being about Mafia families. It will be even harder to find the character's name in the action film to be John McClane every time around, and every Mafia family's surname to be Corleone.

Basic formulas are used again and again, of course. But there are only so many times you can use the exact same plot, down to every last inch, and expect it to work.

"Vice Versa" does work, thanks to a pretty clever little script and great acting, by both Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage, whose role in "The Princess Bride" proved he good be a sweet little kid, and whose role here proves that he can be a sarcastic 30/40-something alcoholic.

Marshall (Reinhold) is a Chicago businessman who has no time for his 11-year-old son, Charlie (Savage). So when Charlie is sent to spend the weekend with his dad, things don't go so well -- until they make a wish that they could trade places, and an ancient Oriental antique grants their wish.

Marshall works at a big department store in downtown Chicago, host to all types of gadget and toy stores. Charlie, in Marshall's body, goes to work, and Marshall, in Charlie's body, goes to school. They both realize that they both have it tough and, in the end, overcome differences to learn to appreciate them.

Sounds sappy, huh? Sounds by-the-numbers? That's probably because, in a sense, it is. The film is a lot like "Big," released the same year, and a lot like "Freaky Friday," only with different genders in the leading roles. But I believe it's better than both films for a few reasons.

1. Tom Hanks gave a great performance in "Big," but acted more like an 8-year-old than a 13-year-old in a man's body. Fred Savage, as Marshall, not only pulls off the adult role, but Judge Reinhold convincingly portrays a fascinated 11-year-old. Because of this, it's actually a lot more believable and a lot more funny.

2. Charlie, in Marshall's body, does not come up with wonderful ideas for new toys, and does not wow the company chairman with his genius, straightforward designs like Hanks did in "Big." It was not only a convenient plot ploy, but also wholly stupid. "Vice Versa" actually presents a much clearer image of what a child would do in a man's body -- make mistakes, nearly lose his job, go into the department stores and start banging on drums and shooting arrows. (Don't ask.)

This is not only a fun film, but a much more honest film than "Big," which I enjoyed but not nearly quite as much as "Vice Versa." "Big" actually had some sexual amorality in it (13-year-old doing it with 30-year-old, etc.), and despite Tom Hanks' great performance, he did not convince me that he was a 13-year-old inside a man's body, but rather a younger child. All 13-year-olds know what women mean when they say that they want to sleep with them.

"Vice Versa" doesn't resort to typical plot turns. It also has a lot of fun with clean morals, and it came out the same year as "Big," meaning it didn't rip off its success like a lot of movies did thereafter. This is an honest family film as straightforward as Charlie is in Marshall's body. And though it may be copying old formulas in a lot of ways, in my own humble opinion, it succeeds far past the others.

4/5 stars.

• John Ulmer