The Switch

There's a lot of stuff I didn't buy in The Switch. It's contrived, and sometimes comes across like a sitcom. In fact, some of the characters talk in that all-to-wise kind of way, like in a sitcom. They have a smart and witty response for everything that's said. One character who fits this bill is played by Jeff Goldblum, who plays the best friend of one of the main characters. And just like the best friend in many sitcoms, he always has something quick to say. There's another best friend character in the film played by Juliette Lewis, and she too exists to provide a witty commentary on what's going on around her.

And yet, despite this, I'm recommending the film. Why, you may ask? Two reasons. Reason no. 1 is that a lot of these smart and funny things that the characters I mentioned above are actually smart and funny. I did not buy that the things they say would just come up off the top of their heads, but I have to give credit to screenwriter Allan Loeb (21). I laughed quite a few times at the dialogue. Reason no. 2 is a much bigger reason - I loved the relationship between two of the main characters. They are Wally (Jason Bateman) and a six-year-old boy named Sebastian (played by a wonderful child actor named Thomas Robinson). The connection that they build together is quite literally charming, and one of the more sweeter relationships I've seen in a film in a while. And what a complicated relationship they have, too. Wally may or may not be the kid's father, due to an incident that happened seven years ago at his mom's "pregnancy party".

Do women who choose to become artificially inseminated throw a "pregnancy party"? Do they invite all their closest friends to celebrate while she and her sperm donor go off in another room to do their duty? They do in this movie. The woman in question is Wally's life-long best friend Kassie (Jennifer Aniston). She announces her decision to Wally in an early scene that lets us know just how close they are as friends - They're able to have a casual conversation in a restaurant where they talk about her cervical mucus and his scrotum. Wally is upset by her decision to have a baby with the sperm of a guy she barely knows - a happily married and charming guy named Roland (Patrick Wilson). He's handsome, he's athletic, and he's witty. Wally, on the other hand, is a neurotic and a classic hypochondriac, but very loyal. In other words, he's doomed to remain forever in the "friend zone" according to Wally's other best friend and co-worker, Leonard (Goldblum).

Events unfold at the pregnancy party. Wally gets drunk, and while in the bathroom, accidentally knocks over Roland's sperm sample. Panicked, Wally replaces it with his own (using a magazine cover picture of Diane Sawyer from Good Morning America as inspiration). Kassie becomes pregnant and moves away, leaving Wally behind in New York City, wondering what happened. He gets his answer seven years later, when Kassie comes back with her son Sebastian in tow. It's painfully obvious to the audience which of the two men in Kassie's life her son takes after. He not only looks like a miniature version of Wally, but displays some of his neurotic tendencies, as well. Regardless, Kassie is interested in starting up a relationship with Roland, who recently divorced. She wants him to be with the man she believes helped bring him into the world. But, the kid likes being around Wally. They spend days together, and he's there when the boy needs advice on handling bullies, or even when he's sick.

These are the moments that give The Switch its heart, and also make it watchable. I'm sure the synopsis above has scared off some readers from ever watching the film, and I can understand. Just hearing the premise gave me bad flashbacks of a failed romantic comedy from earlier this year about artificial insemination, The Back Up Plan with Jennifer Lopez. That was a terrible "Idiot Plot" movie about characters too stupid to live. The characters here are smart, funny, and kind of sweet. In fact, the sperm mix up is really only a plot point, and the movie doesn't make a huge deal about it. It's actually about the relationship that builds between Wally and young Sebastian, and at that, it kind of reminded me of the charming Hugh Grant comedy, About a Boy. Just like that film, it follows a kind of closed-off man who opens his heart and his life to a child. They build a real relationship here. The movie loses its contrived sitcom premise, and just lets the characters bond through some genuinely charming scenes.

This is when the movie started to grab a hold of me. I liked the scene where little Sebastian shows Wally his collection of picture frames with the pre-set photos already inside them. He pretends that the pictures of the people already in the frames are his extended family, and creates backgrounds for them. It's a joy to watch young Robinson in his scenes with Bateman. He doesn't play up the cute factor in his performance, like some child actors. It's surprisingly soulful, and he comes across as wise beyond his years, without seeming like a mini-adult. Once directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck (Blades of Glory) find a more natural groove for their characters, the movie starts working. I liked the characters, and I wanted to see them get together by the end.

The Switch is a movie that could have gone disastrously wrong, and comes close to it a couple times early on. But, it never goes off the rails, and gets better as it goes along. Everyone involved should be complemented for making this tricky material work through humor, sentiment, and intelligence. This is a movie that constantly seems to be performing a tightrope act, and manages to keep its footing by staying grounded in likability.

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