Rated R for strong crude language, strong crude sexual content, some graphic nudity and drug use
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin
Director: David Dobkin
There's an essence to body-switch comedies that separates them from more typical humorous fare. It's a kind of endearing helplessness. In "Big," when Tom Hanks, playing a 10-year-old in an adult's body, lets a mouthful of beluga caviar drop from his mouth after abhorring the initial taste, he's not playing it for laughs. A kid wouldn't know how else to react. It's that vulnerability that makes his plight both funny and sympathetic. That essence is missing from "The Change-Up," the latest body-switch comedy about two men whose lives are far more different than their personality types. As a result, the movie has to strain for its laughs.
It's no surprise, then, that one of the men is a centrifuge of obscene behavior and the other is so uptight and exasperated with his familial responsibilities that the film opens with a firsthand lesson in scatology during a 3am diaper-changing session. The better body-switch movies involve actors meticulously having to study the gestures and quirks of fellow actors. Here, both Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman are essentially performing various degrees of schtick, and then swap schticks.
Yet the movie is at least watchable, thanks to the admirably high level of energy brought to the project. The flawed approach to the material forces the actors to labor for laughs, though the main players do seem up to the effort. The end result is a movie that doesn't necessarily sink, but doesn't really take off, either.
The story is set in Atlanta and involves two friends since childhood. Dave Lockwood (Bateman) is a hardworking, ambitious attorney for a firm that is closing in on an all-important merger, one that would seal his partnership. He has overachieved his whole life to provide for his family. His wife, Jamie (Leslie Mann) loves him dearly, though wonders if the day will come when he finally chooses to slow it down. Mitch Planko (Reynolds) is a spoiled, socially-irresponsible part-time actor and full-time ladies man. He harbors no reservations about spouting vulgarities around Dave's wife and children, and his antics have contributed to a strained relationship with his father (Alan Arkin). One night, after watching a baseball game in a local bar, the two friends venture out into the streets as they lament over their respective paths. Each one wishes for the other's life. They repeat this sentiment while urinating in a mysterious, magical fountain. The next morning, they get their "wish" which puts everything in jeopardy, from Dave's possible partnership (not to mention his marriage) to Mitch's varied array of flings.
Jason Bateman continues to be one of the funniest actors working today, and Ryan Reynolds keeps expanding his acting range, from romantic lead ("The Proposal") to more dramatic fare ("Buried") to comic book hero (the underwhelming "Green Lantern" although that wasn't really his fault) to raunchy comic lead here. Both actors bring tremendous verve to the proceedings, even in scenes that don't hit the comic mark. Surprisingly, the sweeter moments seem to strike a more potent chord here, thanks to strong supporting work from both Leslie Mann as Dave's supportive-even-as-it-kills-her wife and Olivia Wilde as Dave's colleague who harbors a crush but remains professional. Both women fight to give their characters added dimensions in a screenplay where such depth for female characters doesn't seem a big priority.
The director is David Dobkin ("Wedding Crashers"). He and screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore throw all manner of comic bits into the fold. Some work. (I liked the scene where Dave and Mitch try telling Jamie the truth. Mitch asks her to quiz him on something only Dave would know about their marriage. She asks their anniversary date and her favorite color. Of course the overworked, stressed-to-the-bone, increasingly reticent husband gets both answers wrong.) Other scenes don't work. (The movie's most awkward bits involve the infant twins. One bangs his head against the crib and sticks his tongue into electrical outlets; the other has a field day with kitchen knives. Those moments are more weird than funny.)
I didn't find the movie awful; just not terribly engaging. The humor was hit-and-miss. The sentimental scenes were okay, if a bit cliched. Combining raunchiness and sweetness left me adrift in a sea of mild-at-best interest. "Crazy, Stupid, Love" combined humor and sweetness with considerably more wit and charm. That's the one to see.
* * out of * * * * stars
It's no surprise, then, that one of the men is a centrifuge of obscene behavior and the other is so uptight and exasperated with his familial responsibilities that the film opens with a firsthand lesson in scatology during a 3am diaper-changing session. The better body-switch movies involve actors meticulously having to study the gestures and quirks of fellow actors. Here, both Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman are essentially performing various degrees of schtick, and then swap schticks.
Yet the movie is at least watchable, thanks to the admirably high level of energy brought to the project. The flawed approach to the material forces the actors to labor for laughs, though the main players do seem up to the effort. The end result is a movie that doesn't necessarily sink, but doesn't really take off, either.
The story is set in Atlanta and involves two friends since childhood. Dave Lockwood (Bateman) is a hardworking, ambitious attorney for a firm that is closing in on an all-important merger, one that would seal his partnership. He has overachieved his whole life to provide for his family. His wife, Jamie (Leslie Mann) loves him dearly, though wonders if the day will come when he finally chooses to slow it down. Mitch Planko (Reynolds) is a spoiled, socially-irresponsible part-time actor and full-time ladies man. He harbors no reservations about spouting vulgarities around Dave's wife and children, and his antics have contributed to a strained relationship with his father (Alan Arkin). One night, after watching a baseball game in a local bar, the two friends venture out into the streets as they lament over their respective paths. Each one wishes for the other's life. They repeat this sentiment while urinating in a mysterious, magical fountain. The next morning, they get their "wish" which puts everything in jeopardy, from Dave's possible partnership (not to mention his marriage) to Mitch's varied array of flings.
Jason Bateman continues to be one of the funniest actors working today, and Ryan Reynolds keeps expanding his acting range, from romantic lead ("The Proposal") to more dramatic fare ("Buried") to comic book hero (the underwhelming "Green Lantern" although that wasn't really his fault) to raunchy comic lead here. Both actors bring tremendous verve to the proceedings, even in scenes that don't hit the comic mark. Surprisingly, the sweeter moments seem to strike a more potent chord here, thanks to strong supporting work from both Leslie Mann as Dave's supportive-even-as-it-kills-her wife and Olivia Wilde as Dave's colleague who harbors a crush but remains professional. Both women fight to give their characters added dimensions in a screenplay where such depth for female characters doesn't seem a big priority.
The director is David Dobkin ("Wedding Crashers"). He and screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore throw all manner of comic bits into the fold. Some work. (I liked the scene where Dave and Mitch try telling Jamie the truth. Mitch asks her to quiz him on something only Dave would know about their marriage. She asks their anniversary date and her favorite color. Of course the overworked, stressed-to-the-bone, increasingly reticent husband gets both answers wrong.) Other scenes don't work. (The movie's most awkward bits involve the infant twins. One bangs his head against the crib and sticks his tongue into electrical outlets; the other has a field day with kitchen knives. Those moments are more weird than funny.)
I didn't find the movie awful; just not terribly engaging. The humor was hit-and-miss. The sentimental scenes were okay, if a bit cliched. Combining raunchiness and sweetness left me adrift in a sea of mild-at-best interest. "Crazy, Stupid, Love" combined humor and sweetness with considerably more wit and charm. That's the one to see.
* * out of * * * * stars
