I had hoped "The Switch" would be funny, because its trailer was pretty good. By now we all know the cardinal rule about comedy movies, though: unfortunately, the funniest parts inevitably get put in the trailer, and the audience ends up being disappointed by the rest of the movie. "The Switch" was cute but it was definitely just another "fluffy" summer movie.
Wally (Jason Bateman, "Couples Retreat") is best friends with Kassie (Jennifer Aniston, "The Bounty Hunter"), who constantly hears her biological clock ticking; unfortunately, she's not married, and doesn't even have a boyfriend at the moment. She decides to become pregnant via artificial insemination, and she wants to actually meet the donor, so she chooses handsome Roland (Patrick Wilson, "The A-Team). Her friend Debbie (Juliette Lewis, "Whip It") throws Kassie a "I'm getting pregnant!" party, in which she will be artificially inseminated after the guests leave. Wally, however, drinks a bit much and finds himself in Kassie's bathroom, where Roland's sperm is sitting in a plastic cup ... and you can probably guess what happens from there.
I would say Maybe see this movie. It was very cute, thanks mostly to Kassie's adorable little boy Sebastian (newcomer Thomas Robinson), but the funny moments were few and far between, other than the ones we had already previously seen in the trailer. One of the funniest scenes was actually when Wally is in the bathroom and is very drunk. There were some genuinely heartwarming scenes, though, and the ones between Sebastian and Wally are great. You can't help but feel for this little boy, who collects picture frames but keeps the "stock photos" in them, because he likes to pretend they are his relatives (since he himself has no "real" father). I wish that the movie delved more into Kassie and Wally's background stories - we hardly know anything about Kassie, and we only know that Wally has some sort of financial job - but if you are looking for a cute summer movie, then "The Switch" probably won't disappoint.
"The Switch" will be released in theaters this Friday, August 20.
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Liz Parker is a 2009 graduate of the University of Michigan. She currently works as an Assistant Medical Editor for a pathology website. Visit her at her movie blog Yes/No Films
