There are a handful of actors in the world of cinema whose films I will go see regardless of premise or bad reviews. Johnny Depp is one of them. Jack Nicholson is another. The main actor today is Jason Bateman. He was the best part of “Juno,” the best part of “Dodgeball” and one of the innumerable best parts of “Arrested Development.” Few actors in this world are as skilled and talented in the art of comedy than Bateman, whose new film “The Switch” was an absolute joy.
Starring alongside the radiant Jennifer Aniston, Bateman plays Wally, a neurotic New York “everyman” who has a great position in life but has never found happiness in the world of women. Aniston plays his best friend, Kassie, who tells him that she wants to have a child via artificial insemination. It’s obvious that Wally wishes they could be more than just friends, but Kassie doesn’t see it that way.
She finds the perfect donor in the brutally handsome Roland (Patrick Wilson), who gives his “sample” to Kassie at a pregnancy party she throws for her friends one night. At the party, Wally has about 12 drinks too many and makes his way to the bathroom where he finds the sample. After picking it up and playing with it, he accidentally spills the sample down the sink. Naturally, in his inebriated state, he thinks the best idea would be to replace the sample with his own. In a short amount of time, Kassie moves away and Wally has no memory of that fateful night’s activities.
Flash forward seven years later, Wally still has the same job and still hasn’t found the perfect woman. Kassie surprises him and says she will be moving back to New York and that she wants to meet her 6-year-old son, Sebastian (Thomas Robinson).
The many scenes that follow with Wally and Sebastian run the gamut from laugh-out-loud hysterical to deeply touching and moving. The chemistry between the two is so perfectly balanced that Wally soon realizes the truth: he is Sebastian’s father.
The entire cast is outstanding in the film. Acting veterans Juliette Lewis (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”) and Jeff Goldblum (“Jurassic Park”) are hilarious in their supporting roles.
“The Switch” is different from any other romantic comedy in recent memory. Number one, the it boils over with charm and wit. Secondly, it’s a relatively clean film in an age when the raunchiest comedies are the most successful. The feelings and attitudes of the characters seem completely authentic and are never over the top.
I don’t know what it is about Jennifer Aniston, but with every year that goes by, the more beautiful she gets. She is full of charm in “The Switch” in a performance that is on another level far from the Reese Witherspoons and Sandra Bullocks of the world. With Jason Bateman’s firecracker wit, these two make for a perfect on-screen couple.
This isn’t a film dependent on scads of A-list stars for massive box office success, but rather one with modest and respected actors and actresses who are masters of their craft. It isn’t a slapstick comedy, but a simple and real film that will resonate will all different generations.
So to all the fellas, if you think your old lady is dragging you the theater to see another sappy chick flick, don’t fret because you might actually enjoy it.