Review - The Change-Up

Take two guys with radically different lifestyles, get them to piss in a magic fountain whilst wishing they had each other’s lives and you’ve got a standard set-up for yet another entry in the body swap subgenre. Dave (Jason Bateman) is a hapless workaholic and dedicated family man who wishes to catch a well-earned break. Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) is a frivolous slacker who enjoys the lothario routine but secretly wants to achieve something meaningful in his life. When the two mysteriously switch identities, it’s only a matter of time before they start subverting their respective existences.    

Like Horrible Bosses (which also starred Jason Bateman), The Change-Up could’ve been a contender for comedy of the summer. While Bosses displayed a serious lack of gags, Change-Up suffers from an overload of crass antics. We have barely made it to the opening credits when Dave is hit with projectile baby poo in the face. Director David Dobkin may as well have done the same to his audience.  

Or take for instance the scene that introduces Mitch, who tries to squeeze as many profanities within a two-minute window frame. It’s like watching a twelve year-old who thinks combining swear words with assorted vocabulary is comedy gold. Holy fuck knuckles indeed.

Admittedly, the idea of Bateman (po-faced, perennially mild-mannered) swapping bodies with Reynolds (usually seen as the witty, yammering charmer) is a rather neat one, as it implies the latter gets to play subdued while the former is let off the leash. If seeing Michael Bluth prance around the bedroom naked whilst feeling his third testicle is something you’ve wanted to see ever since Arrested Development was cancelled, then this is the film you’ve been waiting for.

Other than that there is very little to recommend. Sure, the horny teenagers will agree that the nude shots of Leslie Mann and Olivia Wilde’s body double are worth the price of the ticket alone, but the rest of us who were hoping for something more gratifying will feel short changed, or even outright conned.

But you’ve got to feel bad for the movie’s two stars. Both Bateman and Reynolds have confirmed themselves as deft funnymen and they’re even not half bad at the whole “proper acting” spiel (just watch Juno or Buried, if you need proof), but in terms of box office and film quality, 2011 has not been kind to them. Here’s hoping next year will be a better one for the two of them.

1/5