The Change-Up (2011)
Certified: 18
Duration: 112 minutes
Directed by: David Dobkin
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, Sydney Rouviere, Mircea Monroe, Lauren Bain, Luke Bain, T.J. Hassan
KRS release

Dave (Jason Bateman) and Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) are two unlikely best friends. Mitch is a single man with a good following of hot women who want to get into bed with him. Dave is married, has three children and is an attorney who is in line to become a partner in his firm. After getting drunk the two end up near a fountain with both wishing they could have each other’s lives. Next morning, the two wake up in each other’s bodies.

Mitch finds himself next to Dave’s wife Jamie (Leslie Mann). Now he has to be a parent and cope with the business end of the company. He tries to turn Dave into a more assertive fellow. Dave finds himself in the body of bachelor Mitch and goes on a dream date with Sabrina (Olivia Wilde), his co-worker. He thus finds out that Sabrina had a crush on him when he was still Dave but the fact that he was married had made him unaware of this.

The two men meanwhile try to find the fountain that had granted them this wish but cannot find it as the city council has moved the fountain to some unknown location. The ultimate question to this would however be whether each would want to return to his former body or are they now happier with their new lives?

The Change-Up is an entertaining slice of easy-going popcorn entertainment. The concept behind the film is nothing new as it looks like the male version of Freaky Friday (2003) which in its turn was the female version of Vice Versa (1988). However, The Change-Up brings a new perspective to the switched identity theme in the sense that it aims to provide adults with a “men behaving badly” routine instead of aiming for the teenage audience of the likes of the recent Zac Efron vehicle 17 Again. Silly and over the top as much as The Change-Up may be, it still makes for raucous good fun. In fact this is a body switch film with all the sensibilities that Judd Apatow usually brings to his work.

David Dobkin is not one of my favourite directors but the team-up of Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds propels the film forward. Mr Dobkin brings to the film the kind of over-the-top no-holds-barred vulgarity that the likes of The Hangover has made so popular. Mr Bateman is as usual given the role of the nerdy type while Ryan Reynolds is again given the chance to play the all-assured, womanising rascal.

What the film does is that once the body switch occurs, the two are required to play not just against the character type but also against the audience’s expectations as the roles are reversed. It is interesting to note that Jason Bateman seems to be having more fun playing the wild party animal than Mr Reynolds playing the sensitive family guy.

Olivia Wilde follows up on her sexually-tinged performance in Tron Legacy while Leslie Mann plays the neglected housewife well.

One can say that the film has a message to deliver about married vs single life but the film never digs too deep, nor does it attempt to. The film is all out to have fun in the loudest manner possible.

Seeing Mr Bateman say all the funny and stupid stuff he gets to say will make you laugh out loud even more. The two leads are more than just sports and their fun factor makes The Change-Up worth a trip to the cinema.