dir. Will Speck, Josh Gordon
The Switch is quite frankly a disgusting film. Disgusting in a moral sense, disgusting in a physical sense – just an all-round nauseating experience. Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) is in her late thirties and keen to have a child, so she decides to search for a sperm donor. Her best friend and ex Wally (Jason Bateman) objects to this vehemently. Clearly this is because he still harbours romantic feelings for her, and seems to believe this therefore makes Kassie his property. Yet, apparently, the audience is supposed to like and support him. We’re supposed to like and support him while he drunkenly spills Kassie’s existing sperm donation into the toilet (why she just has it lying around in her bathroom in the first place is anyone’s guess). We’re supposed to like and support him as he decides to replace the sperm with his own sample instead. We’re supposed to like and support him as the film fast-forwards several years – Wally’s knowledge of his own paternity supposedly blotted out by his inebriation at the time – to Kassie raising a son whose progeny is a complete lie. We’re supposed to like and support him as he blunders around, seeing the kid’s similarities to himself, and alternately eschews responsibility and barges in where he’s not wanted. All this means that when Wally finally gets the girl, it’s supposed to be a happy ending. But instead, it just feels hollow and unpleasant. The Switch apparently took all possible charm, joy and affection, and switched it for sheer ugliness.
BMDb 