The Switch

Jennifer Aniston is Kassie, a successful career woman with a ticking clock. She decides to act before it is too late, and announces her intention to find a sperm donor and have a baby. This comes as a shock to her neurotic best friend Wally, played by Justin Bateman; he gives her dozens of reasons why it’s a bad idea, but we can pretty much tell that he’s just put out because she’s not interested in his sperm. That, and he’s probably in love with her – we know that because she’s Jennifer Aniston, and this is a romantic comedy. There’s not much else in the plot to give their relationship away – in contrast to films like When Harry Met Sally, or Broadcast News, where it is clear how much the two main characters enjoy each other’s company, these two mostly argue and act irritated with each other as the movies skips quickly along in order to get to the main event: the sperm switch.

Spoiler alert? Really? C’mon, the name of the film is The Switch, you know it’s coming.

So Justin Bateman finds himself in Kassie’s bathroom, face to face with her Viking sperm donor’s seed, and he’s drunk and not a little high from pills that Cassie’s friend Debbie (played with great humor by Juliette Lewis – where has she been?) has slipped him and he decides to have a little fun. Next thing we know, Viking seed has become neurotic seed, Kassie’s pregnant, and she moves away to raise her son in bucolic Minnesota. (I have to give some props to Justin Bateman here. For the sperm switch scene he’s alone in a bathroom, playing a drunk who is about to, well, donate. Potentially awkward and cringe worthy, but he pulls it off. It’s not hilarious but it’s amusing.)

The best friends lose touch, until Kassie moves back, seven years later, with a kid who seems an awful lot like Wally. The film picks up at that point, because Thomas Robinson, who plays young Sebastian, is a terrific little child actor, and he and Bateman have great chemistry together. When the two of them are on screen, discussing their neuroses, it’s a lot of fun. The rest of the movie is predictable fluff, but if you’re in the mood for lighthearted nonsense, you could do worse than this one. Don’t rush out to see it, though, if you’re hoping for a big dose of Jennifer Aniston – she doesn’t get a lot of screen time. With a terrific supporting performance by Jeff Goldblum as Wally’s friend Leonard. It’s been years since I’ve enjoyed Goldblum this much. Playing all over but it had a disappointing first weekend so, if you want to see it in theaters, sooner is probably better than later. B-

Photo credit - Miramax