The Switch
Dir: Josh Gordon and Will Speck
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Thomas Robinson, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis
Most rom-coms are predictable affairs and so it is with The Switch, based on a much darker short story by Jeffrey Euginides, “The Baster”. Equities analyst Wally (Jason Bateman) may have missed his chance at love when he let his relationship with television producer Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) drift into the “friends” zone. So when it comes time for Kassie – whose biological clock is ticking – to find a sperm donor she opts not for Wally but for a more conventionally handsome, college professor Roland (Patrick Wilson). But, in a bout of drunken forlornness which he later doesn’t remember, Wally switches Roland’s “donation” for his own. Cut to seven years later and Kassie returns to New York, 6-year old Sebastian (Thomas Robinson) in tow. As far as all are concerned Sebastian is Roland’s son so it only makes sense for her to hook up with the father of her child but Wally still carries a torch for her. And why is Sebastian so much like him in so many ways? Do we really need to guess where the movie goes from here?
This predictable journey to the eventual destination is made somewhat palatable by Jason Bateman’s Wally, a misanthropic, cynical, ill-dressed hypochondriac who is an unlikely lead for a romantic comedy. Also helping is the real love story of the movie: the growing bond beyond Wally and Sebastian (who is precocious in typical Hollywood fashion but, thankfully, not too precocious) which makes Kassie kind of redundant to the proceedings. The movie also benefits from the laughs provided by Jeff Goldblum and Juliette Lewis as Wally and Kassie’s respective BFFs (some viewers may also be tickled to be reminded of the fact that before a certain Mr. Pitt moved on from Ms. Aniston’s arms to the charms of Ms. Jolie he used to be in a serious relationship with Ms. Lewis). All in all, I wouldn’t run to watch this but I’ve seen worse.
Cut to chase: Predictable but done decently enough.
