At first glance ‘The Change Up’ looks nothing short of your ‘below average’ comedy, firing out the same old tired gags & drowning us in enough slap stick that even Charlie Chaplin would roll around in his grave shouting ‘ Jesus wept I’ve seen this so many bloody times before!!’
Also the idea that two men swapping bodies because they envy of each other’s lives was tired even when ‘Vice Versa’ came along with Fred Savage in the 1980’s.
However I must say that despite all the above, this kept me entertained and I remained tickled throughout. I loved its crude, rude, nude, slightly dysfunctional attitude.
In a nutshell - our two characters have been best mates for years. One is a hot shot lawyer, Mitch, (Jason Bateman) with a loyal wife. And the other a wannabe actor, not sure where my life is going, weed smoking lothario, Dave (Ryan Reynolds). On a drunken night while weeing into a fountain they both wish they had each others’ lives, only to wake up the next day to find out that it’s come true (original I hear you sarcastically yelp).
The obvious then ensues where they both proceed to slowly dismantle each other’s lives. Big corporate law mergers go bad, light porn acting ventures involving a plastic surgical nightmare, knife fights between father and his new born’s (very weird), as well as a rather uncomfortable toilet scene where Mitch’s hot, hot wife is off loading her bowels (big time) in the bog.
Stranger things have happened on film I guess.
Anyway, our list goes on!
What works though is the flow of story between the two characters. The performances are good with some lovely support from Olivia Wilde, lovely, lovely tip top support from her. And dipping in and out every now and again is the dry but very funny Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) as Dave’s dad.
Drifting off in this film never happens for very long either as they quickly inject another giggler into the mix to carry things on again once more! We are however given a rather dull moral story (eventually) when both realise what they need to do in order to better their own lives bla, bla, bla. But let's never mind that.
The writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore wrote the Hangover & David Dobkin, the Director of ‘The Change-Up’, is best known for ‘The Wedding Crashers’. So it’s as no surprise why this movie delivers & packs a dirty great punch.
This is released in Oz 8th September...
Rating:
6 out of 10 Northern Thumbs for this one.
Overall:
A solid comedy with nothing particularly new to give - But well delivered with nice swearing, nudity & some strange attempted sex with a pregnant woman.
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