back to browsing

The Switch [DVD] [Canadian]

1 disc
Region 1 USA/CA (info)

A woman approaching middle age yet still childless decides to get pregnant by artificial insemination, only to discover that the donor she chose may not be the father of her child in this comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. Wally Mars (Bateman) is a dyed-in-the-wool pessimist. Hopelessly neurotic and unrepentantly narcissistic, he gets no joy out of life except for the time he spends with his best friend Kassie (Jennifer Aniston). However, despite the fact that Wally pines to be more than just friends with Kassie, she isn't convinced they'd make a good couple. When Kassie announces to Wally that she's found the perfect sperm donor, he's crestfallen; as far as he's concerned, the ideal candidate is standing right in front of her. Later, Kassie selects handsome stranger Roland (Patrick Wilson) to provide the seed. Things get complicated when Kassie's best friend Debbie (Juliette Lewis) throws an "insemination party" to commemorate the big event, and Wally intercepts Roland's special delivery, drunkenly replacing it with his own before blacking out. Pregnant and content, Kassie leaves the city for Minnesota, where she gives birth to a healthy baby boy. Flash-forward seven years, and Kassie returns to New York with her son, Sebastian (Thomas Robinson), who shares an uncanny number of physical and psychological traits with embittered bachelor Wally. Before long Wally and Sebastian have become good friends, and Wally becomes convinced that the boy is his biological son. His ideal family is finally within reach, and if he can just figure out a means of breaking the news to Kassie gently, perhaps she'll find it in her heart to forgive him, and recognize that he'll make the perfect father for Sebastian.
Read More...
Credits

Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis
Critic Reviews

3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]horoughly entertaining....It's funny, clever, touching and real."
Box Office
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he film is that rare example of rom-com about men, which turns out to be a nice switch indeed....Aniston and Bateman keep things both light and dark when they should, and Robinson's Sebastian steals everyone's heart."
Los Angeles Times
"[A] friendly, offbeat romantic comedy. Bright spots come in performances by Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman as the leads..."
Hollywood Reporter
"THE SWITCH is a pleasant surprise. It's a total formula movie, but the dots that get connected feel new." -- Grade: B
Entertainment Weekly
"This picture belongs to Jason Bateman....For Bateman, there's no distinction to be made between high and low comedy -- he brings neurotic elegance to everything he does."
Movieline
3 stars out of 5 -- "Bateman knocks it out of the park with his physical clowning and easy-breezy bonding scenes with newcomer Thomas Robinson..."
Total Film