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the story of two thick friends Wally (Bateman) and Kassie (Aniston).
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However, things go crazy when Wally’s pal Leonard (Goldblum) takes a liking for Kassie. With Kassie deciding to have a baby without the hang-ups of a relationship, she goes for artificial insemination and solicits a sperm donor named Roland (Wilson), and hosts an amusing insemination party.
With Wally getting sloshed in the party, he makes a blunder with Roland`s sperm specimen and feels morally obliged to replace it with his own.
Post Wally’s faux pas, seven years have passed during which Kassie moved away from New York and had a charming son Sebastian (Robinson). One fine day, Kassie decides to move back to the city and arranges a meet with Wally. Amusingly, Wally is unable to recall what happened seven years ago but finds an uncanny resemblance between him and Sebastian.
‘The Switch’ is a funny film with lots of humorous moments. Watch out for Jason Bateman who keeps tickling your funny-bone with his zinging dialogues. Aniston is lovable and charming. Goldblum and Lewis can act and are nice addition to the film. Young young Robinson is a great find.
With right cast and loads of humour, ‘The Switch’ is every bit enjoyable.
Ratings: Three cheers for this one!
The Switch
Photogallery
Story: Jennifer Aniston tries to keep pace with her biological clock and decides to go in for artificial insemination when she fails to find a boyfriend who can be husband material too. Why escape the joys of motherhood, she tells herself and finds a suitable donor in Patrick Wilson, an assistant professor of feminist studies at Columbia. But best friend, Jason Bateman, accidentally makes a switch, replacing the donor's sperm with his own.
Of course, Aniston has no idea about it and is confronted with the seedy truth, seven years later when her son, Sebastian seems to have a greater affinity with her best friend (Bateman) rather than with his biological father, Wilson.
Movie Review: Where have all the husbands gone? Just a few weeks ago, it was Jennifer Lopez who opted for artificial insemination because she couldn't find the perfect mate in Back-up Plan. This time, it's 40-year-old feminist TV producer, Jennifer Aniston who inseminates herself with a turkey baster, when she fails to find her Mr Right: a man who would double up as perfect husband and great daddy to her unborn kid.
Are these really the new age feminists that Hollywood rom-coms are trying to throw up? You got to be joking! It doesn't take long for both our Jennifers to realise that single motherhood is hardly an option for the independent woman even as a world-without-men is a desolate, despicable and disastrous scenario for the sassy singleton. Lopez falls in love with a cheese farmer on the day she inseminates herself, while Aniston fails to pay heed to best friend Bateman's warnings, only to end up falling in love with him, seven years later. Of course, before that, she tries her best to bond with her son's supposedly biological father, Patrick Wilson who sadly shares no chemistry with neither the mom, nor his son. The poor professor tries his best to strike a rapport with his melancholic, neurotic, high-strung six-year-old son, Sebastian (Thomas Robinson) but ends up awkward and embarrassed after a disastrous birthday party in Central Park. It doesn't take long before Aniston realises why Sebastian seems to be bonding so well with the also-neurotic Bateman, who pitches in as the baby-sitter, while Aniston desperately tries to romance the wrong daddy.
The film unfolds like a predictable rom-com, but has its moments, mostly conjured up by the young kid, Thomas Robinson who does a fine tango with the self-absorbed, emotional and somewhat funny Bateman. Robinson may have a personality disorder, but it sure is an engaging one. For who wouldn't be drawn towards a kid who prefers causes like global warming and animal welfare over video gaming and cartoon network! As for Aniston, she's likeable, as always, in a candy floss way that seems to come naturally to her.
Sweet, sentimental and sufficiently funny, The Switch is a decent weekend watch.
‘The Switch’: Puzzled relationships (IANS Movie Review - Rating: ***)
Director: Josh Gordon, Will Speck; Actors: Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Thomas Robinson, Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis, Patrick Wilson
Often we go through relationships in life, comfortable in the existence of a best friend who supports us. What we don’t consider is that the best friend could become the spouse.
Wally (Bateman) and Kassie (Aniston) have that relationship. Though Wally likes her and keeps telling her that in different ways, Kassie strictly keeps him in the best friend zone. Problem occurs when Kassie decides to get artificially inseminated and looks around for a sperm donor. Wally asks what’s wrong with him but Kassie wants to have the best possible sperm for herself.
She finds Roland (Wilson) and throws a party on the day. In a drunken stupor, however, Wally replaces Roland’s sperm with his own, not even remembering the incident. After becoming pregnant, Kassie moves away from New York and returns seven years later with her son Sebastian (Robinson).
When Wally interacts with Sebastian, he suspects the worst. When his fear that he is the father turns true, he wants to tell Kassie but can’t. To complicate things further Kassie begins a relationship with Roland.
“The Switch” is a commentary on many aspects of modern life. In our zest for the best, we forget the most compatible one that is next to us. The solution is merely to make a switch in one’s mind and consider a different possibility.
Jason Bateman plays the distraught Wally well. Jennifer Aniston is plastic, and cannot emote, perhaps due to the botox on her face. The boon of starring in “Friends” has become her “bane” and she has been unable to shake off that stereotyping.
It is however Thomas Robinson who plays his part as an over intelligent, hypochondriac kid with believability, cuteness and a quite a few laughter. Here’s a kid to watch out for.
Observant Indian audiences will notice a first of its kind censor cut, where the reason this time is male nudity and not female.
The mainstay of the film is a steady pace throughout, believable characters, settings and dialogues, even though the concept might seem a little far-fetched. Though branded a comedy, it is a little slice of urban American life. Considering the rapidity with which urban Indian life is turning American, Indian audiences are bound to enjoy this.
The Switch is Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston’s latest movie and in the movie, she stars as a single woman whose biological clock is ticking fast while she fails to find a suitable man to marry and have children with.
Jennifer Aniston switch focus in life
Aniston decides not to let her lack of a marriage partner stand in her way of becoming a mother so she decides to get her eggs fertilized through artificial insemination and gets access to the sperms of Patrick Wilson, a Columbia University Assistant of female studies. However through fate, Wilson’s sperms are accidentally swapped with that of Jason Bateman, who happens to be Aniston’s best pal.
Seven years after the birth of Aniston’s son Sebastian, the real truth of the matter is revealed after Sebastian develops a closer relationship with Bateman than Wilson, his supposed biological father.
It seems like husbands are very scarce nowadays after both Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston found it difficult to get marriage partners in Back-up Plan and The Switch respectively.
Aniston, 40 works as a TV producer who is all for women’s independence decides to settle for anyone after failing to find a great husband and father for the child she wants to give birth to.
The types of independent women being portrayed in the latest Hollywood movies are hardly the real situation on the ground as many women who want to live their lives without men are not looking to give birth and raise their kids on their own without the help of their fathers.
Jennifer Lopez developed a huge affection for a man who worked as a cheese farmer in the movie the same day she had her insemination while Aniston also refuses to listen to the advice of Bateman about the artificial insemination but ends up in a love relationship with him after seven years.
After failing to get her son to have a close relationship with Wilson who she wrongly thought was her son’s biological father, Aniston notices and starts wondering why her kid is so fond of her best pal Jason Bateman who sometimes had to take care of Sebastian while Aniston tried to date Wilson.
Even though there wasn’t much suspense in the movie, the performance of the little boy Thomas Robinson was impressive as he had a great on-screen relationship with Jason Bateman. He was also very intelligent and seemed to be compassionate.
Aniston was also quite charming on screen as always and gave a great performance.
