Review of The Switch (2010) by Tony I — 03 Nov 2012

Jason Bateman, Jennifer Anniston and Jeff Goldblum should be making the greatest comedies of our age but - tragically - they are unable to write the scripts themselves. And neither can anybody else. It takes 25 minutes before we even get to the first plot point we already saw in the 2 minute trailer. Another 25 minutes before Bateman's character realises what he did in the first plot point we already saw in the trailer. And, miserably, another 25 minutes before he plucks up the courage to confess to Anniston's character about the first plot point that we already saw in the two minute trailer.

Nearly every scene is a conversation with two people standing facing each other - there's nothing here that deserves the big screen treatment. Sure it has that witty, quirky, knowing dialogue that actors and writers love, and Jason Bateman works his heart out to make this film succeed, but the truth is that Anniston and Bateman have done much funnier, smarter, and sweeter material in their TV careers. It's as good as the last forgettable rom-com-by-numbers I saw, whatever that was.