"Family Switch" sounds like a temporary title; you'd walk into a meeting room and pitch "family switch" and assure the producers you'd come up with something better. But no, the laziness of this film is so astounding, that upon realizing no one had this title before, the filmmakers (and Netflix) decided to just go with it and not really question why.
I can't pretend like Family Switch is all that terrible; it crosses into "so bad it's good territory", particularly towards the end. The entire "high school partying" scene is truly glorious in how bizarre it is. The human interactions feel mechanical and strange, as if the writers had never been around humans before or been to a party. It was this moment when I began to suspect that this movie was in fact, not written by humans, but by an AI. (I'm only half joking)
Because everything else feels like an amalgamation of everything you've seen before in every family comedy ever made. What, you're telling me this zany body switch just-so-happens to occur at the time when EVERYONE has this big thing they need to do, with major implications for their future? NO WAY. And, it just so happens that everything just kinda sorta works out in the end? Color me surprised.
To be fair, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the performances. Jennifer Garner is pretty good here, probably because she's played this sort of role before. Emma Myers is also quite good as well, and surprisingly, the best out of the bunch. There are also some genuinely funny moments with the two of them, if they aren't a bit juvenile (I don't consider myself too refined for a well time fart joke).
But Ed Helms and Brady Noon...what on Earth was going on with these too? I get Helms' character Bill (truly memorable name, I know) is simultaneously the lamest Dad you could imagine, but also impossibly charming and suave? I guess the idea is that in a teenager's body, he could be "cool" again, but it's never really communicated properly.
Oh, and just to further my AI theory, this film is set at Christmas and is marketed as a "Christmas movie," but I can't consider it one in good conscious. It's a film "set at Christmas", but aside from a generic "appreciate your family" message, this film has barely anything to do with Christmas. Iron Man 3 is more of a Christmas movie than this one.
Still, I do think if you have some time to kill, this movie can be funny to watch in an awkward, cringe inducing sort of way. I guess that's fine.
I can't pretend like Family Switch is all that terrible; it crosses into "so bad it's good territory", particularly towards the end. The entire "high school partying" scene is truly glorious in how bizarre it is. The human interactions feel mechanical and strange, as if the writers had never been around humans before or been to a party. It was this moment when I began to suspect that this movie was in fact, not written by humans, but by an AI. (I'm only half joking)
Because everything else feels like an amalgamation of everything you've seen before in every family comedy ever made. What, you're telling me this zany body switch just-so-happens to occur at the time when EVERYONE has this big thing they need to do, with major implications for their future? NO WAY. And, it just so happens that everything just kinda sorta works out in the end? Color me surprised.
To be fair, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the performances. Jennifer Garner is pretty good here, probably because she's played this sort of role before. Emma Myers is also quite good as well, and surprisingly, the best out of the bunch. There are also some genuinely funny moments with the two of them, if they aren't a bit juvenile (I don't consider myself too refined for a well time fart joke).
But Ed Helms and Brady Noon...what on Earth was going on with these too? I get Helms' character Bill (truly memorable name, I know) is simultaneously the lamest Dad you could imagine, but also impossibly charming and suave? I guess the idea is that in a teenager's body, he could be "cool" again, but it's never really communicated properly.
Oh, and just to further my AI theory, this film is set at Christmas and is marketed as a "Christmas movie," but I can't consider it one in good conscious. It's a film "set at Christmas", but aside from a generic "appreciate your family" message, this film has barely anything to do with Christmas. Iron Man 3 is more of a Christmas movie than this one.
Still, I do think if you have some time to kill, this movie can be funny to watch in an awkward, cringe inducing sort of way. I guess that's fine.