The Switch (2010)

Nice effects though.

Best movie of this year hands down!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Seven years after the fact, a man comes to the realization that he was the sperm donor for his best friend's boy. Jason Bateman gives an excellent and sweet perfomance as a man who finds himself inside an insane situation plus Jennifer Aniston and the rest of the cast do a great job as well and the chemistry between Bateman's character and the little boy who portrays Sebastian was very sweet and real. The Switch has some sweet dramatic moments, nice laughs and people who will see it with an open mind will be suprised. (A+)

Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadgerIf not for Bateman and supporting actors Jeff Goldblum and Juliette Lewis, THE SWITCH would have been The One to Skip. Not because it's lousy, which it isn't, or because it's boring, which it's not. In fact, the premise has loads of potential, given how many women these days are opting to go parenthood alone. The problem with The Switch is that it's uninspired. Without Bateman to elevate many moments from corny to amusing, it would be formulaic at best and insufferable at worst.Luckily for the audience, he's there with his natural delivery and impeccable timing, making most of the set-ups -- even the absurd ones -- believable. And humorous. When he decides to make that pivotal switch, we buy it. As for Aniston -- who is, after all, the film's star -- it has long been established that she's charming and funny. And she still is. But the charm is wearing thin, and the funny feels phoned in. We've seen her as this character many times now, ostensibly independent but needing rescuing, needing someone to love her to be once again complete.Pros: Interesting story, Jason Bateman's performance, and some good humorCons: Some weak story moments, some corny heartfelt scenes, and some uninspired acting from Aniston

Cute movie, cute kid, fun Bateman and hilarious Lewis/Goldblum.....BUT! Yes, we all know the boring addition to the team: Aniston. Her. Again. Why oh why did they cast her? She brings no soul to her character, literally CAN'T pull the mother act. She put me off 20 minutes after I started watching it.

yet another attempt in what seems like a recent (i.e. over the past 10 years or so) relentless trend trying to placate, pacify and assure Mr. Average (& in the audience!) Dude that he CAN Have It All, just by Being Himself - as personified by the main character's pathetic excuse for a modern man (played by Jason Bateman - himself an average & average looking actor); when Oh When will this trend run its course, PLEASE?!? Because it's simply ludicrous & borderline insulting to an audience to show some Story about how an urban mediocre modern man (written deliberately in lower casing, please-to- note!) eventually and with an absolute minimum of effort gets a wife as depicted by Jennifer Aniston, i.e. fantastic looking (replete with golden tan despite living & working in NYC), well-groomed, smart, sweet-natured, yet somehow with a great/dream job which ALSO pulls down a well-above average salary! PLUS this lucky dude gets to miss out on all the awkwardly tricky becoming-a-father stuff, e.g. a pregnant mate going through mood and body swings, post-natally disinterested in sex, years of changing diapers, months of sleepless nights due to a screaming and/or teething baby, 'terrible toddler' tantrums, etc! HOW lucky is HE?! WHAT exactly did this amazing (apparently/evidently!) tho' average dude DO to deserve or just plain GET such ABOVE- average Good Fortune? Errr…exactly NOTHING. Nope. Nada/Nichts/Niente; he just bungled along in his boring sweaters and pessimistic (which predictably, he calls 'realistic') 'tudes & views, marginally amusing and somewhat smart, holding down a good job where his significantly older, more charismatic, more confident and/or worldly buddy uselessly counsels him - because Mediocre Man (ok so we'll allow an upper case when paired with the former since it now fits!) is impervious to changing his way of Being, because (presumably) he has some stubborn sense (judging by the dull narrative over the whole movie) that SOMEHOW, Things Will Go HIS Way, if he just sticks to being himself long enough… !?! There are no breakthroughs of insight, no therapy (for his abandonment issues - which surely would've been re-triggered when the (undeclared) Love of his Life leaves NYC for her native Minnesota?), precious little character development beyond an upgrade in wardrobe (from sweaters to natty shirts & jackets) and hesitant stepping/dragging into latently desired fatherhood - as would surely ANY guy in his 30s, in love with the mother and besieged with the attentions of an adorable 5 (nearly 6!) year old boy who so evidently resembles himself WOULD (@ any rate, I'd defy almost any guy NOT to respond/develop such feelings under such circumstances, so there's nothing special about Mr. Average doing so!). Somehow - because Someone Up There Loves him?! (unspecified; this is NOT a movie about Faith, only dogged faith in Self, for no special reason) - without being especially attractive, charismatic, charming, witty, smart, energetic, forthcoming or overtly loving, and despite being emotionally reserved/intimacy-inaccessible, reticent in actions, deeds & words, and repeatedly missing out on every single God-given opportunity to declare his love for this gorgeous catch-of-a-future-wife woman, and ruining her chance with another eligible, exciting, energetic, great-looking and openly loving man who seems to excel at several things (notably, a Carpe Diem 'tude!) - unlike him - in an outrageously rude, selfish and completely inconsiderate and long overdue outburst of self- expressing during an important gathering/party of her friends and future family and in front of said adorable child whom he accidentally fathered, who has been practically begging for him to BE his Dad, but whom he has thus far entirely denied that explanation & reassurance due to his own inexplicable & inexcusable timidity, he IS excused (eventually) - without offered apology, apparently!?! - and skips even the most basic bare-bones effort of declaration of his feelings, proposal of marriage, offering of a ring - in short, ANY situation which risks rejection - which is all part of what makes a man & defines ANY one's character, man or woman - and by a modicum of dependability (as a friend) plus sheer fantastic luck likewise entirely inexplicable, leaves ALL the proactive Doing to the woman…when in real life she would be (rightly!) seething with resentment, sense of rejection, unappreciation, and - last but not least! - anger over having been duped! It's absurd, ridiculous, and offensive to expect us to believe such scenarios are likely in life, and a subtle endorsement of everything which is wrong with modern western urban men who wimp their way through every situation and relationship while women in the modern urban West struggle to straddle some unspecified and unstraddalable(!) gap between being both a woman AND a man…because modern men don't/won't do the work of BEING Men, and want their female mates to figure it all out for them…while grumbling about being emasculated by women who want It All: Yeuch! A firm thumbs down all around except for the adorable child who sadly still has no sufficient role model for manhood, and is well on track for roundly resenting his too-capable mother for 'smothering' him, i.e. for being significantly and obviously superior to his father from almost every standpoint! Roll on the 22nd century and robots mates/men and basting sticks & anonymous semen & artificial insemination all around! Surely no worse a travesty than what was represented here in 21st century's mutual mates of flesh & blood..? !