Director David Dobkin may have garnered a number of laughs, shocks, and gasps from the audience, but The Change-Up is, essentially, an R-rated bromance version of the mother-daughter body-switching comedy Freaky Friday.
So inspired, in fact, that the lascivious comedy can hardly be called innovative.
Dave (Jason Bateman) is a career-obsessed lawyer with a loving wife (the screechy yet lovely Leslie Mann) and three young children. Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) curses in front of Dave’s children, smokes marijuana in public, and adores himself and his looks, which he uses to sleep with as many women as possible (and brag about it incessantly). He is reckless, careless, and carefree. One drunken night, Dave and Mitchell urinate in a fountain, simultaneously chanting, “I wish I had your life.”
Thunder, a blackout, and body-switching follow and the predictability ensues.
Of course, following the supernatural formula established in Big, the magical fountain has been moved, so they are forced to live each other’s lives for a period of time.
Both Bateman and Reynolds expertly navigate the waters of comedy and drama, deftly balancing yet combining the genres to make for distinct and convincing characters. Yet, neither actor goes to great lengths to convince us that there is a moral to the story, in spite of the fact that, at the end, both Mitch and Dave have accepted their lives for what they are. However, we recognize the fact that Mitch’s behavior is not politically correct, and that Dave, as the voice of reason, is an idealistically intelligent, successful, and caring father, husband, and businessman. Thus, we are expected—and we do—to think more highly of Dave than we do of Mitch.
It is unusual yet funny to see these actors play two entirely different characters. Reynolds, as Dave in Mitch’s body, is overly dramatic, concerned, and frightened. Bateman, best known for playing sensible characters, enabling him to get in touch with his inner wild child, spurting out f-bombs at every chance he gets. A likeable, but bland Olivia Wilde plays Dave's work-crush, a stunning law associate who spends some after work time with him while he inhabits Mitch's body.
A recent Newsweek article commented on the sudden focus in movies on the perils of fatherhood, including The Change-Up as a prime example. Dave appears to be an unwilling caretaker of his infant twins, although he evidently adores them. In a sequence that caused me to feel utterly embarrassed (as opposed to the intended hysterical reaction), his son poops in his face.
The script was penned by The Hangover alums Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, who overloaded yet another raunchy buddy comedy with gross bathroom, sexual, and body part humor. Lucas and Moore smartly add a number of pop culture references that enhance the realism and 21st-century nature of the characters’ predicaments, as ridiculous as they may be.
Ironically, regardless of the film’s obvious flaws, The Change-Up seems needlessly long at 198 minutes and is not what the title suggests: it is little more than a conventional, albeit exceedingly raunchier version of the body-switching plot and a waste of the talents of Reynolds and Bateman.
So inspired, in fact, that the lascivious comedy can hardly be called innovative.
Dave (Jason Bateman) is a career-obsessed lawyer with a loving wife (the screechy yet lovely Leslie Mann) and three young children. Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) curses in front of Dave’s children, smokes marijuana in public, and adores himself and his looks, which he uses to sleep with as many women as possible (and brag about it incessantly). He is reckless, careless, and carefree. One drunken night, Dave and Mitchell urinate in a fountain, simultaneously chanting, “I wish I had your life.”
Thunder, a blackout, and body-switching follow and the predictability ensues.
Of course, following the supernatural formula established in Big, the magical fountain has been moved, so they are forced to live each other’s lives for a period of time.
Both Bateman and Reynolds expertly navigate the waters of comedy and drama, deftly balancing yet combining the genres to make for distinct and convincing characters. Yet, neither actor goes to great lengths to convince us that there is a moral to the story, in spite of the fact that, at the end, both Mitch and Dave have accepted their lives for what they are. However, we recognize the fact that Mitch’s behavior is not politically correct, and that Dave, as the voice of reason, is an idealistically intelligent, successful, and caring father, husband, and businessman. Thus, we are expected—and we do—to think more highly of Dave than we do of Mitch.
It is unusual yet funny to see these actors play two entirely different characters. Reynolds, as Dave in Mitch’s body, is overly dramatic, concerned, and frightened. Bateman, best known for playing sensible characters, enabling him to get in touch with his inner wild child, spurting out f-bombs at every chance he gets. A likeable, but bland Olivia Wilde plays Dave's work-crush, a stunning law associate who spends some after work time with him while he inhabits Mitch's body.
A recent Newsweek article commented on the sudden focus in movies on the perils of fatherhood, including The Change-Up as a prime example. Dave appears to be an unwilling caretaker of his infant twins, although he evidently adores them. In a sequence that caused me to feel utterly embarrassed (as opposed to the intended hysterical reaction), his son poops in his face.
The script was penned by The Hangover alums Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, who overloaded yet another raunchy buddy comedy with gross bathroom, sexual, and body part humor. Lucas and Moore smartly add a number of pop culture references that enhance the realism and 21st-century nature of the characters’ predicaments, as ridiculous as they may be.
Ironically, regardless of the film’s obvious flaws, The Change-Up seems needlessly long at 198 minutes and is not what the title suggests: it is little more than a conventional, albeit exceedingly raunchier version of the body-switching plot and a waste of the talents of Reynolds and Bateman.
Rating: B-
(from forcesofgeek.com)
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