From almost every possible angle, The Switch (starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman) is nothing new under the sun. With Aniston working off of her usual rom-com charm and Bateman riding on his understated comedic strength, the film, helmed by Blades of Glory directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck, is about as obvious and straightforward as a geeky-guy-is-secretly-in-love-with-his-best-friend-while-she-dates-the-handsome-jock gets. But the truth is, while having audiences who are still traumatized from their last encounter with an insemination comedy à la The Back-Up Plan, The Switch is a wonderfully fun and surprising film.
The movie begins with the neurotic curmudgeon Wally (Bateman), a New York City businessman, hearing the news from his best friend Kassie (Aniston) that she plans to have a baby with the help of a donor. During the insemination party thrown for Kassie, Wally gets totally smashed and in a moment of drunken idiocy, switches donor Roland’s (Watchmen’s Patrick Wilson) DNA for his own. Soon after she becomes pregnant, Kassie moves away to raise her son. Fast forward seven years later, Wally is living his status quo humdrum existence when Kassie calls to say that she and her son Sebastian are moving back to New York. As the three start to spend time together, Wally begins to realize the striking resemblance in mannerisms between himself and the six year-old. He soon begins to puts the pieces of that inebriated evening and comes to two realizations: one, that he has a son, and two, he can’t fight his true feelings for Kassie despite being potentially muscled out by the ever-present Mr. Perfect, Roland the donor.
Although Aniston is unquestionably at her most sexy and radiant, Bateman and the incredibly articulate Thomas Robinson, who plays Sebastian, are what make the core of this film strong. Bateman in all of his underappreciated, comedic glory (Arrested Development truly never got enough love) is a beacon in the center of the movie with Robinson flickering at his side. The duo creates an unbearably precious father-son pair, with a few moments that might bring one to the verge of happy tears. Along with Jeff Goldblum as Wally’s friend Leonard and Juliette Lewis as Kassie’s friend Debbie, the amalgamation of cast and story and sugar and spice is anything but cliché.
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