Hollywood has had its share of somebody waking up in somebody else’s body….remember Tom Hanks in Big or Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30. And then there was Jamie Lee Curtis with Lindsay Lohan (in her adorable days) in the famous kid flick Freaky Fridays. But while those were charming, endearing, this one is toilet humor backed up without a plunger. This one is missing a body part. Maybe a heart? Dave (Jason Bateman) is a dad who spends his nights doing diaper changes and mixing formula for his twin babies. His wife (Leslie Mann) feels their romance is long gone as his passion has become his day job…he’s a lawyer trying to make partner at his firm. He’s also fantasizing about trying to make his assistant (Olivia Wilde) do all kinds of tricks. Well hello!
His best friend is Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) a weed-smoking, unemployed actor who has a different woman for every day that ends in ‘y.’ From the get-go we don’t care about him. He’s half dimensional let alone one dimensional. When the two men wish each others lives away, they tinkle in a fountain, and voila, wake up as each other. Initially it’s hilarious as single swinging Mitch has to deal with ballet recitals and immunization records. But the film itself is so over-the-top potty mouth, that we become polarized as an audience. By the time it’s suppose to feel sentimental, we’re still stuck in chaos and can’t make the switch back, even if they can. The film focuses on sex, so that by the time we’re brainwashed, or sex-washed, its a tough transition to not want the married man/single man to do the wrong thing.
The message is supposedly one of love what you have – the grass isn’t always greener – I love you bro! and blah,blah, blah. But it’s more blah, blah, blah than anything else. Oddly the movie is an effort of Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin and Hangover writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, two great films. The only cool part of this crude and rude film is watching Bateman play the naughty boy for a real change up of his usually squeaky clean roles. Two tiaras