Review - The Change-Up

A Fastball to the Funny Bone

Dave Lockwood (Jason Bateman) is a family man. He’s a man that has moved forward with his career, he’s about to become a partner at the firm. He’s got wonderful family that loves him. Everything a guy would want; well most guys.

One guy who wants what Dave has is his friend, Mitch Planko (Ryan Reynolds). Mitch is the guy who has never grown up. Drinking, cussing, carousing and more every hour of the day, Mitch lives for the next girl, or his Tuesday night girl.

The two envy each other so much that in a drunken stupor one night they each cry out their wish to be the other. And of course, that is who they wake up as the next morning.

Now Dave is Mitch and Mitch is Dave. As is usually the case, the grass is not always greener on the other side and as each other Dave learns that is wife isn’t as happy as he had thought. And Mitch learns how much his Dad does appreciate them.

Ok, sure, along the way there are some diversions from the funny, to the gross and everywhere in between. The big question is, will they get back to the people they were before or are they “stuck” in their new roles? And a second question, do they want to return to their old life?

We’ve seen the body switching movies before. Freaky Friday, Like Father Like Son, Vice Versa and the list rolls on. When you are dealing with this kind of comedy, it is essential to get funny people in the rolls, or the switch doesn’t work. Thankfully, for the most part, there are funny people involved in this film and you will find yourself laughing more often than not.

Call me a fan, but Jason Bateman has a way of delivering the goods when he steps in front of the camera. No matter what he is asked to do, it seems he always delivers the goods. Working with Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde and more only adds to the fun in this case.

There are a number of scenes that seem way out there and in fact derail this film from time to time. (Did we really need the poo to the face scene?) But overall with a decent script and some funny folks involved, The Change-Up is a straight on fastball to the funny bone.

B / B-

The Change-Up

Universal Pictures

Director: David Dobkin

Cast: Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, Gregory Itzin

Rating: R for pervasive strong crude sexual content and language, some graphic nudity and drug use.

Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes