The Switch
Rent/Purchase
Kassie is a smart, fun-loving single woman who, despite her neurotic best friend Wally’s objections, decides it’s time to have a baby – even if it means doing it herself… with a little help from a charming sperm donor. But, unbeknownst to her, Kassie’s plans go awry because of a last-minute switch that isn’t discovered until seven years later… when Wally gets acquainted with Kassie’s cute, though slightly neurotic, son.
What critics thought
A mixed-reception romantic comedy that critics largely saw as a vehicle elevated above its formulaic script by Jason Bateman's performance — most agreed he was the real star, not top-billed Jennifer Aniston. The debate was less about whether the film was good than whether Bateman's charm was enough to compensate for a by-the-numbers premise, with harsher critics finding the whole enterprise manipulative and the leads unlikable.
“around the halfway point it starts getting interesting and the people who put it together are at least working in a realm of reasonable intelligence and wit and respect for the audience. I wish it were great, but 'pretty good' puts it ahead of plenty of recent romantic comedies.”
Michael Phillips·Chicago Tribune
“here comes the surprise: It's peculiar and pretty good! Taken on its own terms, it's a light, sweet, curiously enjoyable misfit romance, whose real star is not Aniston but her magnificently awkward Lothario, Jason Bateman.”
Andrew O'Hehir·Salon.com
“it's not a bad film, really, just sort of average. But Bateman is so good in it – natural, funny, yet full of real emotion – that you immediately want to see him again in a better film.”
Tom Long·Detroit News
“an unfunny, manipulative romance about two unlikable people and their prop of a son [...] The pic mangles the premise of its source material.”
Andrew Barker·Variety
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorJosh Gordon, Will Speck
StarringJennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson, Thomas Robinson, Jeff Goldblum
ComposerAlex Wurman
The Switch
Kassie is a smart, fun-loving single woman who, despite her neurotic best friend Wally’s objections, decides it’s time to have a baby – even if it means doing it herself… with a little help from a charming sperm donor. But, unbeknownst to her, Kassie’s plans go awry because of a last-minute switch that isn’t discovered until seven years later… when Wally gets acquainted with Kassie’s cute, though slightly neurotic, son.
What critics thought
A mixed-reception romantic comedy that critics largely saw as a vehicle elevated above its formulaic script by Jason Bateman's performance — most agreed he was the real star, not top-billed Jennifer Aniston. The debate was less about whether the film was good than whether Bateman's charm was enough to compensate for a by-the-numbers premise, with harsher critics finding the whole enterprise manipulative and the leads unlikable.
“around the halfway point it starts getting interesting and the people who put it together are at least working in a realm of reasonable intelligence and wit and respect for the audience. I wish it were great, but 'pretty good' puts it ahead of plenty of recent romantic comedies.”
Michael Phillips·Chicago Tribune
“here comes the surprise: It's peculiar and pretty good! Taken on its own terms, it's a light, sweet, curiously enjoyable misfit romance, whose real star is not Aniston but her magnificently awkward Lothario, Jason Bateman.”
Andrew O'Hehir·Salon.com
“it's not a bad film, really, just sort of average. But Bateman is so good in it – natural, funny, yet full of real emotion – that you immediately want to see him again in a better film.”
Tom Long·Detroit News
“an unfunny, manipulative romance about two unlikable people and their prop of a son [...] The pic mangles the premise of its source material.”
Andrew Barker·Variety
Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorJosh Gordon, Will Speck
StarringJennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson, Thomas Robinson, Jeff Goldblum
ComposerAlex Wurman
Rent/Purchase