David O'ConnellThe Change-Up
August 25th 2011 03:56
Body swap films are almost a genre of their own, so often has Hollywood gone to this particular well in search of a tried and tested formula. Freaky Friday (1978) was the first one I remember as a kid but a long line have followed in the years since - not to mention the inevitable Freaky Friday remake!
The Change-Up proves to be a fresh viral strain of 'Body Swap' adventuring, its mutation coming from the way it overlaps with the 'Gross-Out' comedy. We're talking here, of course, of that classy variation honed to perfection by the Farrelly Brothers before they unofficially handed the baton over to Judd Apatow and his minions in recent years.
The two unwitting parties in The Change-Up are childhood buddies whose lives have taken divergent paths. Dave Lockwood (Jason Bateman) is a devoted family man, though his marriage to Jamie (Leslie Mann) has been on the skids for a while – something neither party will openly acknowledge.
Dave hasn’t seen slacker Mitch Planko (Ryan Reynolds) for a while, but a proposed night out at a sports bar brings them together for what will be a fateful public urination session at a magical fountain. Both bemoan their lives, momentarily blinded by the attractive qualities of the other’s lot in life. In a supernatural moment, the lights of the city are extinguished. And guess what? The next morning each wakes up in the other's body.
Directed by the reliably mediocre David Dobkin, whose career high came with The Wedding Crashers (2005), The Change-Up does indeed showcase some unbridled, stupid-but-funny moments. Many result from the general crassness of Mitch’s behaviour now brought to life by the gutsy Bateman. After suffer the indignity of having a CGI baby anus propel excrement into his mouth in an early scene he gets to fulfil duties as a second rate porn star who is currently engaged in a steamy affair with a heavily pregnant woman. Such is the culturally rich life of the boorish Mitch who trashes Dave’s carefully cultivated family man persona within a few hours of his spiritual entombment inside Dave’s body.
The moral of the story, of course, is for each to evaluate the other’s life choices and ponder the wisdom of where they’re both heading. For Dave too it’s a time to finally put aside his career-minded obsessions and refocus on the more fundamental needs of his suffering, neglected wife.
The Change-Up (2011), as you can probably guess, isn’t exactly highbrow humour or a filmic experience you’ll ever want to re-live in this lifetime. But for the masses, content to gorge on the tried and true, this will be a satisfying morsel to expunge the bad taste of their working day.
The Change-Up opens in Australian cinemas on Thursday September 8.
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