Big Kid Pictures, Original Film, Relativity Media
Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Olivia Wilde, Leslie Mann, Mircea Monroe, Alan Arkin, Shannon Guess, Jeanine Jackson, Sydney Rouviere
Two best friends from childhood, Mitch Planko (Ryan Reynolds) and Dave Lockwood (Jason Bateman) now have vastly different lives. Mitch is a good looking single playboy who loves the ladies. Dave is an investment banker, very uptight and proper, with three little kids, a wife, and who is about to become a partner by completing a giant merger. But Dave is having a hard time as he tries to keep up with the kids, and his wife is feeling lonely because he is so involved with his job and their marriage is headed toward a brick wall at 90 miles an hour. Meanwhile Mitch is feeling bad because he’s jealous of Dave’s beautiful wife, his well paying prestigious job, and he’s estranged from his Dad because he thinks he’s a loser who never finishes anything he starts. Both wish for each other’s life and in a weird situation, they wake up in each other’s bodies, and find out that life is not always greener on the other side of the fence.
First of all, before anything else, I have a bone to pick with the folks who released this disk. There is no particular reason in the world why I would want to purchase the 4,343 movies that I have watched on Netflix over the last eleven years. I pay a monthly fee to watch films, and am happy to do that, but with all the great movies on the market, I like to watch as many as I can. If I buy a copy of a film, then I either never watch it again, or I spend time watching a movie again that I’ve already seen. So I either spend my cash and go to the theater, or I send Netflix a check, and watch it on DVD. Now this film comes with two versions. The regular R version that is the US theatrical version, and an unrated version. One of the benefits of DVD is the special features and the director’s cut or unrated version of a film. A gag reel and some deleted scenes adds to the experience. But these clowns decided not only to withhold the special features, but they also removed the unrated version. This means that they think I will go out an purchase this film simply for an additional couple of minutes of junk. Not going to happen in my lifetime. Shame on them.
Now, on with the movie. I can imagine how the pitch meeting went down. Ok, we know that Jodie Foster and Lindsay Lohan did the switch places thing already, and that Zac Effron guy, but this is different. We’re going to make an R rated version, so they can get naked and say the “F” word anytime they want to. That makes it really different. Well, it’s not that different. First of all, it’s not really that much of an “R” rating. A couple of scenes and a few lines that probably would embarrass the younger crowd, but it’s not Hangover or American Pie. It’s not a horrible movie, but I think everyone’s seen this before, and it was not all that different. I think that’s why it didn’t kill at the box office.
The other big problem is the actors. Not to be too critical, but neither one works very well for me. They did play their characters, but neither are very enjoyable to watch. Ryan Reynolds role, Mitch, could have been better done by dozens of guys, and I’m sorry, but Jason Bateman is a nice guy, but the whining and moaning really gets me down. The ladies in this film were better. Leslie Mann as Dave’s wife Jamie is convincing as the neglected wife married to a workaholic, and Olivia Wilde, as Sabrina McArdle, Dave’s secretary, and Mitch’s love interest is really funny. There’s a few laughs here and there, and it has it’s funny moments. But it’s not all that clever. Ok to rent, if you’re into the concept, but not a great film.
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
