When it comes to body-switch comedies most people think of family films like Freaky Friday, Big, 17 Again, and even, The Hot Chick. This weekend we get a new take on this old storyline, but the success or failure of The Change-Up is up for debate. From the director of Wedding Crashers and the writing team that brought us The Hangover, one would think that a grown-up take on the otherwise family friendly genre, would have potential to be a success. The Change-Up, however,
takes the risk of being so over the top and inappropriate that it
borders on the side of an epic failure. From poor pacing and
characters, that are just plain irritating, I’m sorry to report that
there is very little to give praise. Having been a fan of the original Hangover
and just about any project involving Jason Bateman, I was extremely
excited to see this film, especially, having just having come off the amazingness that is Horrible Bosses.
Unfortunately, I feel that with this film, the writing team just shot
themselves in the foot and put the final nail in the coffin when their
latest round of TV spots were released.
Having added only one line to their new 30-second spots, it is almost a plea for people to avoid this film like the plague. I mean, let’s be honest here, if you hear “The director of Wedding Crashers and the writers of The Hangover take the body-switch comedy where it's never gone before" would you really go running to the theater to check out the film? Personally, every time I hear that line I get chills from the scheer memory of how horrible this film is and the pain that I suffered watching it.
Don’t get me wrong, if you are a fan of bad jokes made in poor taste that are delivered back to back with no time to recover, than I’m sure you will enjoy this film but the overall shock value of the dialogue is caked on so heavily that there is no time to recover and truly appreciate the joke (if there is one). Truth is, the entire time I sat in the theater I seriously wished I could just reach over and smacked the stupid out of Reynolds character because it was so beyond what I was willing accept. All the while I was watching, I had only one hope and that was, that something might happen that would actually make me care for one of the characters, but sadly Bateman’s Dave Lockwood was so likeable, I wanted him to mess up somewhere and try to live a little, while Reynolds’ Mitch Planko was such an ass I just wanted someone, if not on screen, than off screen, to beat him up. What makes all of this worse is that Bateman was on such a career high that he was overdue for a bad film, and poor Reynolds is still riding off one relatively bad box office film, Green Lantern, and I was hoping this might be a step in the right direction. I can only hope that these good actors in bad films, will be short lived, because each deserves better roles than those provided in The Change-Up.
Overall I would recommend a pass on The Change-Up. If you are looking for a good comedy and have not yet seen Horrible Bosses that would more than make up the gaping hole brought on by David Dobkin’s latest film. I give The Change-Up a 1.5 out of 5 and highly recommend that the guys out there do not make your ladies watch this film. If you want to go do a guys night and then compare notes on how your life compares to these guys that's fine, but if you have no interest in doing either avoid the film completely and you will be a much happier person.
Having added only one line to their new 30-second spots, it is almost a plea for people to avoid this film like the plague. I mean, let’s be honest here, if you hear “The director of Wedding Crashers and the writers of The Hangover take the body-switch comedy where it's never gone before" would you really go running to the theater to check out the film? Personally, every time I hear that line I get chills from the scheer memory of how horrible this film is and the pain that I suffered watching it.
Don’t get me wrong, if you are a fan of bad jokes made in poor taste that are delivered back to back with no time to recover, than I’m sure you will enjoy this film but the overall shock value of the dialogue is caked on so heavily that there is no time to recover and truly appreciate the joke (if there is one). Truth is, the entire time I sat in the theater I seriously wished I could just reach over and smacked the stupid out of Reynolds character because it was so beyond what I was willing accept. All the while I was watching, I had only one hope and that was, that something might happen that would actually make me care for one of the characters, but sadly Bateman’s Dave Lockwood was so likeable, I wanted him to mess up somewhere and try to live a little, while Reynolds’ Mitch Planko was such an ass I just wanted someone, if not on screen, than off screen, to beat him up. What makes all of this worse is that Bateman was on such a career high that he was overdue for a bad film, and poor Reynolds is still riding off one relatively bad box office film, Green Lantern, and I was hoping this might be a step in the right direction. I can only hope that these good actors in bad films, will be short lived, because each deserves better roles than those provided in The Change-Up.
Overall I would recommend a pass on The Change-Up. If you are looking for a good comedy and have not yet seen Horrible Bosses that would more than make up the gaping hole brought on by David Dobkin’s latest film. I give The Change-Up a 1.5 out of 5 and highly recommend that the guys out there do not make your ladies watch this film. If you want to go do a guys night and then compare notes on how your life compares to these guys that's fine, but if you have no interest in doing either avoid the film completely and you will be a much happier person.
