If a comedy's success resides in how often it makes us laugh, the success of a romantic comedy lies in seeing how two completely different people can become a great couple. The audience must become the characters' cheering section, wincing at their bad choices and celebrating when they kiss in the final reel.
Unfortunately, The Switch – featuring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman as two people finding one another despite their best efforts – fails that central test. It's a humourless affair with two characters that fail to win our sympathy. It wastes the considerable talents of Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) as a sub-par Woody Allen.
Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston Star in Lionsgate, Maple Pictures' The Switch
Kassie Larson (Jennifer Aniston) wants to have a child and she wants it now. Fed up with waiting for a Mr. Right who's never arrived, Kassie's having herself artificially inseminated and she's even found the perfect man to donate the other half of the DNA: hunky professor Roland (Patrick Wilson).
However, Kassie's best friend Wally Mars (Jason Bateman) has different ideas. A financial analyst who seemingly has Asperger's Syndrome, he's tired of being in Kassie's Friend Zone but doesn't know how to change it. At Kassie's artificial insemination party, Wally drunkenly replaces Roland's semen with his own then promptly (and conveniently) forgets about doing so.
Fast-forward 7 years and Kassie returns to Wally's life, along with her 6-year-old son Sebastian (Thomas Robinson). Wally realizes that Sebastian looks and acts a lot like him, and he starts to bond with the little tyke. Comedic hijinks ensue.
Leaving aside the ethical implications – and sheer 'ick' factor – in that premise, The Switch's biggest problem lies with its central couple. Wally is less a character than a collection of tics and twitches in need of heavy drugs or group hugs, while Kassie is so forgettable that she virtually fades into the background. Bateman looks lost at sea with this character, not knowing how he can transform this socially inept character into a leading man. As for Aniston, it's clear that she has problems portraying anyone else other than Rachel in Friends: she washes out next to requisite kooky sidekick/best friend Debbie (Juliette Lewis).
Ironically, it's romantic rival Roland who's the most compelling character here: he's a hurting divorcé who genuinely loves kids and wants to be a dad, but doesn't know how to relate to Sebastian (his heinous crime? Taking the kid rock climbing – aaauuugh!). This film would have been stronger if it had been about Roland's attempts to relate to a high-functioning autistic child.
The truly annoying part is that there are sequences in the film, such as when Sebastian explains his hobby of collecting brand-new picture frames, that show The Switch could have been so much more.
Instead, Allan Loeb's script – based on Jeffrey Eugenides' short story – attempts to make Bateman and Aniston into our cute couple without really giving them any real attraction or sign that they'll be good for one another. And let's avoid the movie's seeming endorsement of emotional blackmail.
The Switch Fails as a Romantic Comedy
In a perfect world, some crazed film enthusiast would tie up everyone associated with this movie and force them to watch The Philadelphia Story, Next Stop: Wonderland or When Harry Met Sally innumerable times until they get the point. The Switch gets a 2/5.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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