L'échange

"The Switch" is like a romantic comedy, except better because it gives you everything you want: romance and comedy with a story and characters. They buck the trend to make the romantic elements absurd and instead shower us with comedy and very little sap.

Jennifer Aniston is just a cute girl that the audience can accept as a character, but Jason Bateman is everything you want in a leading man. Very good looking but not in a typical way, plays up neurotic with aplomb, and is hilarious all the way through. We easily fall in love with him from beginning to end.

"The Switch" actually gives us a story, one where our hero has to evolve and mature as he realizes and understands the value that Aniston and her son bring to his life. Again, Jason Bateman is the kind of man that we have been waiting for in romantic comedies, because he actually has the talent to portray all of that, and do it with comedy. A romantic comedy that is cute, funny, romantic, mature and where you actually welcome the story line - what more could you ask for?

I think critics have been conditioned to think that any movie with Jennifer Aniston in it these days has to suck. I happily declare that this one doesn't. It has a likable romance. The dialogue is actually funny (especially anything that comes out of Jeff Goldblum's mouth). Based on the premise - which comes off much less implausible than it probably should - I was expecting a lot more lowbrow comedy and was pleasantly surprised. And Jason Bateman is a wonderful and underrated leading man. The voice-overs are perhaps a bit insipid and probably could have been skipped entirely, but that's a minor complaint. I enjoyed the film. 7 out of 10.

well, I rented this film only because it was the only one that I hadn't see from redbox. I usually do not like Jennifer Aniston in anything but the TV show Friends, and quite honestly she wasn't great but she certainly did not 'sneeze on the buffet'. It was Jason Bateman that really carried this film. He's a very under-rated actor. The film is about friend of the opposite sex, with one, the male of course, having more feelings than the other. When he finds out that she wants to have a baby and is looking for the perfect man for his sperm, he's hurt cause she didn't pick him. The film really explores parenthood in the modern age and also dynamics of friends, and even fatherhood. It's a comedy, but it has many dramatic and poignant elements to it. I'd recommend it.

The Switch (2010)

Okay, it would be easy to dis this movie as a canned, obvious, emotionally thin contrivance. It's a vehicle for two popular stars playing characters in their 30s who are, despite good looks and basic social skills, single and childless. They have to fall in love but life gets in the way in kind of stupid ways. You can't take it seriously, and you can't even quite care enough to hope for the best, whatever that is.

But it's also easy to like this movie despite its obviousness. Jason Bateman is a joy to watch. Maybe his performance is like the movie--glib and facile. But like the movie he is endlessly watchable, and his character is the one with the most depth. His interactions with the boy of six or so are terrific. The boy, too, is adorable and helps the movie get some feeling.

Jennifer Aniston plays the woman who wants a child but has no one willing to be the dad, more or less (though the viewer knows better). And she's a terrific actress, actually, even if her role here (and elsewhere) is often not as demanding as it could be. I suppose Meg Ryan has some kind of edge on her for this kind of stereotype--the lovable lonely urban girl who just can't get love right despite the obvious--but Aniston is an update on that type.

But it is Aniston and Bateman together that really make the movie glide along and make you smile. They have great rapport and good timing, comedic and serious both. I wouldn't say they have chemistry (I guess that's the problem their characters have, so maybe it's great acting) but they make their scenes pop in a way the rest of the movie trundles.

The story writer, Jeffrey Eugenides, is better known for sprawling novels and lots of interrelated characters, but even there there are little hooks that come off a hair obvious. That's the problem here, in the end. There's a big trick, a wonderful and funny hook of an idea, and that almost alone has to handle all the consequences. Some better character development would have been a joy.

Oh, and it's been a long time since a movie with two directors has been able to pull off consistency. I don't know the logistics behind it, but maybe one of the hesitations all along is a lack of singular conviction. Or not. Maybe this is such a formula product any number of directors could have chipped in.

Watch it for the two leads together. And for some fun, warm laughs, if that's your thing. I enjoyed it.

This film is about a woman who gets pregnant by artificial insemination with seeds from a donor. An unexpected switch causes an avalanche of events that changes her life.

The first ten minutes appear to be a bombardment of words, with constant conversation at full speed. Then the story moves slowly, and the first sign of any romance happens well after 70 minutes into the film. There is little portrayal of Kassie's dilemma between two guys and her entangled emotions, which makes the film a lot less engaging. Even though the film follows the typical romantic comedy formula, the formula is so rushed that everything occurs in the last 20 minutes of the film.

The script does not work at all. It is poorly paced, unfunny and just drags on. It creates nothing to make the viewers look forward to. It does not instill any loving feelings into the atmosphere. It does not even feel sweet or romantic. There is no comedy at all, it does not make me even smile once. I normally enjoy romantic comedies, but I find "The Switch" unbelievably boring.