In a summer absolutely saturated with raunchy comedies, you would think that Hollywood would be running out of ideas, but when in doubt, theirs is always the possibility of defaulting to a familiar, if slightly modified, storyline. If you stop to think about it, it’s actually quite surprising how often Hollywood recycles the body/identity-switch sub-plot to draw in an audience, whether it’s mother and daughter (Jamie-Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan in 2003’s Freaky Friday), man and woman (Rob Schneider and Rachel McAdams in 2002’s The Hot Chick), or hero and villain (John Travolta and Nicolas Cage in 1997’s Face/Off) trading places. When picking the comedic actors to take the lead for The Change-Up, Universal wouldn’t have too much trouble filling theaters with fan-favorites Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds. Granted, Green Lantern was definitely a step backwards for Reynolds, but The Change-Up looked like the perfect chance for redemption; as for Jason Bateman, he’s still riding the wave of success from Horrible Bosses…who wouldn’t want to see these two together? Throw in the increasingly popular and perpetually gorgeous Olivia Wilde, and it looked like the raunchy comedy genre would be delivering yet another winner for the 2011 Summer Movie Season.
The Change-Up centers around the concept of two guys switching bodies after drunkenly urinating in a fountain…clearly the story wasn’t going to be perfect, but almost every narrative element still felt a little stale and formulaic. When it comes to whether the recycled idea was actually funny enough to be counted alongside something like Bridesmaids, as much as I wanted to love The Change-Up, I have to admit that Universal still managed to drop the ball. There is definite comedic value in watching Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds play against character, with Bateman cutting loose in a thoroughly enjoyable way, but the jokes they ultimately had to work with were clearly trying too hard to be edgy. The biggest surprise comes from Olivia Wilde, who is finally given a chance to establish some kind of on-screen persona, and thankfully, she’s sexy, sassy, and surprisingly funny. In the end, The Change-Up definitely has its moments and is good for a laugh, but please don’t be expecting anything fantastic.
For more information, please read the full review.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
