Switch (2011)

A Disappointing Continuation

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It's one of those films which leave you with a feeling of having just wasted your time for nothing, like a one night stand with a selfish lover. On paper the plot seems exciting, but it just doesn't make sense, nobody is as stupid as the main character. And the scene with the mother!? "There's a dangerous killer in that house, mum, could you go check it out?" - "sure, I'll just bring my weapon. Now I'll walk in and handle the killer my self, and then I can call the police afterwards" - "mum? Mum!? (Sounds of mum being killed) oh my God, what happens to my mum? Well, I'll just go for a cup of coffee now..." Not that it needed to be all realistic but this is to far out to be worth spending time on

Someone frames our poor little girl from Montreal, and pulls off a tremendous caper by getting her to 'switch' her PQ apartment for a trendy flat in Paris. Paris cops show up and detect a body. Problems begin, including identity theft (ramped up on the Richter scale).A thrill a moment, and excellent hand-held camera work (shot in 35 days by 2 guys with hand-helds, reportedly) during numerous chase scenes. Sadly, our innocent heroine commits several felonies while fleeing and trying to prove her innocence: if O.J. is in jail for life for storming a trophy convention, while armed, just to retrieve his own property, how much time would our PQ girl get if she had her 'on-the-run' misadventure in the good old USA?I mean - Harrison Ford escapes custody in the Fugitive, but he is careful to avoid committing other serious crimes while on the run (he even saves a couple of lives) right? Our heroine has to commit so many serious crimes to get through this thing, I was thinking she might have been better to confess to the murder she was framed for, stay in custody, and try contriving an appeal from behind bars!

I watched this movie sitting on the edge of my seat, completely mesmerized from beginning to end. While I was watching it I kept thinking how impressively put together it was, like an intricate clockwork handled with a masterful touch by an artful master.This girl, Karine Vanasse, is a terrific actress, top drawer, and she's on screen most of the time, with a wide range of emotions perfectly believable and appropriate for the rol, a rol that requires enormous amounts of tense moments for her.As good as her is the police officer (Eric Cantona) but diametrically opposed to her school of acting, since he is totally restrained in his movements but his performance is outstanding.Another reviewer criticized many-many weak points in the script, and I agree with all those findings, but at the same time I wonder: Why criticize almost to a vivisection point a movie that is only sheer entertainment? Even reading any of the Shakespeare plays we can point out thousand implausibilities in them and yet, we take him for granted now.I don't see it that way, this movie is a TEN stars, because it does what it promised: To Entertain, and it would be very difficult to top it at that.Sensational script, sensational camera work (to a dazzling point), sublime editing, perfect actors, even pacing from beginning to end, excellent soundtrack, magnificent director (Frederic Schoendoerffer)... Anything else, El Exigente?And to top it all, Paris, the most beautiful city on this earth of ours!

I don't understand what the first reviewer was talking about, this is a killer thriller that moves like lightning, once you get past the (very good) setup. Is there a deep mystery to be resolved that's real interesting? Not particularly, but I believe Hitchcock had a term for that, the "mcguffin", the thing the crooks want but the audience doesn't care. This movie is about nonstop action, and it's very well done, one of the best foot chases I've ever seen, with amazing camera work. For them to have accomplished that in 35 days with two cameramen, it's just . . . astounding. By all means check it out.