The Switch

Rooster Flick – Turns the Tables
Switch, PG-13, ***, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldberg, Juliette Lewis. Director Josh Gordon and Will Speck. Length 101 minutes.

“The Switch” is set in New York City. It starts with a story that begins seven years from the present. We eventually get to the present. However details of the friendship of two individuals are revealed along the journey.
Wally (Jason Bateman) and Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) are trying to find their place in life. Wally is neurotic and strange. His low self esteem and inability to commit and grow up does not make him the life of the party.
However, he really likes Kassie, but he just simple cannot allow himself to step into adulthood and take chances with life.
Kassie’s wants to have a baby, because her reproductive system is growing closer to the end. So she decides to find a donor. Kassie wants to have a baby without getting married. This does not set well with Mr. Neurotic non committal Wally.
However, sad-sack Wally cannot allow himself grow-up enough to do anything about it.
Kassie finds Roland (Patrick Wilson) to be the sperm donor for her child. A party celebrates this occasion. Wally is there filling himself with lots of booze. The entire premise is unusual. The donation works, and Kassie becomes pregnant.
However, there is a part I am leaving out. I will save that for the readers to observe if they decide to see this unusual look at a semi-romantic comedy. It is not laugh out loud funny, but it does have a rather creative plot that turns the tables on most movies along these lines.
The sensitive person in this movie is Wally. Unfortunately, he does not have the backbone to express his feelings verbally. Most of his sentences come out harsh and obtuse. The other characters are more interested in themselves and impressing others.
Although Wally is self-absorbed, he just needs something to bring him to his senses.
The movie moves forward into the present. Kassie moves from New York to live close to her parents. Wally and Kassie communicate, but Wally still does not seem to mature enough to be aggressive.
Kassie moves back to New York with her son Sebastian (Thomas Robinson). Since the young Sebastian is so much like Wally, the reader can probably guess what I did not explain earlier.
This does not ruin the movie. It is not a comedy that makes the viewer laugh at every other line. However, it is a movie that is different, and original in its plot. I am not sure how it will work with the audience looking for lots of spontaneous laughter, but it does have its moments.
This comedy concentrates on the male side of a relationship. Looking into the immaturity and self absorbed neurotic behavior of a sensitive person trying to immerge from the darkness of loneliness, “The Switch” is definitely a modification of the run of the mill romantic comedies.
It is always a good idea to be friends with someone as falling in love and maintaining a relationship is difficult enough without being totally sure that one’s mate is in fact ones best friend.
I recommend the movie for its creative look at love from the aspect of the male. This allows it to stand apart from the ordinary romantic comedy.