The Change-Up is intermittently charming; frequently profane; mostly dull. More than anything it reinforces the somewhat depressing notion that mainstream American comedies are rapidly running out of ideas, over-compensating for the lack of creativity with a torrent of foul language. There’s nothing wrong with swearing or crude humour per se, as long as it’s used creatively (see the scorching British satire In the Loop).
The Change-Up by contrast tests its audience’s willpower within 2 minutes of starting, as Jason Bateman’s domestic father gets diarrhoea in the face from his young baby. It’s an image that might raise painful chuckles with some, but there’s a kind of jaded cynicism to the whole gag. We have after all seen this stuff before – is it too much for someone to come and tear up the rulebook?
Regardless, that little salvo is indicative of the tone of The Change-Up. Bateman (an enormously talented deadpan comedian who deserves much better material than this) is the put-upon father struggling to balance his home-life with the pressures of his high-powered job as a lawyer. By contrast, best friend Ryan Reynolds is a lazy, drug-taking womaniser who’s nervy about commitment. Following a late night drinking session, both men end up urinating in a fountain but tra la, it turns out to be a magic fountain, and come sun-up, both men end up in the other’s bodies.
So essentially what we have here is an adult variation on Freaky Friday, complete with the usual overdose of aggressive language that is now par for the course in these movies. What’s most deadening is the overall lack of surprise. After all, do we think the men will learn about each other’s lives, or do we think the world will be wiped out by an asteroid? It would be nice to place money on the latter but that’s never going to happen. The Change-Up is merely content to recycle riffs from a multitude of recent comedies, resulting in a somewhat numbing experience.
Quick. Someone get hold of that rulebook, sharpish.
Rating: 5/10
