Missed Movies: The Change Up (2011)

WARNING

THIS REVIEW DOESN'T CONTAIN SPOILERS.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

What I knew about The Change Up prior to actually seeing it can easily be summed up in two words, digital nipples. I knew nothing of the story, nothing of the initial reception to the film and almost nothing about the cast with the exception of Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman. Despite not actually knowing anything about the film and baring in mind my indifference to Reynolds thus far this year I had unfairly placed The Change Up in my 'can't be arsed' pile. Sadly for me however after a friend of mine showed up predictably late one evening and as a result of an unfortunate coin toss we wound up tripping it to my local Vue to take The Change Up in.

The Change Up is the story of two friends Mitch (Reynolds) and Dave (Bateman). Mitch has achieved nothing other than a sizeable drug habit while Dave is a successful lawyer with a large family whom he is slowly alienating. Unsurprisingly both friends are envious of each others lives, Mitch longing to be successful and have a family with Dave longing for the days of no responsibility and meaningless sex. The rather boring tale suddenly takes a turn for the bizarre when the two drunkenly piss in a fountain and switch bodies, providing them with the opportunity to have the lives they desire only for them both to find out its not all it's cracked up to be. 

The story in incredibly clichéd, predictable and really rather tiresome but it does succeed in one thing and thats providing both Reynolds and Bateman with the chance to play against their respected usual types. Both actors do a bang up job and are the only things in The Change Up that are worthwhile watching. The two performances aside the rest of the film is dull and lifeless leaving the film as a whole to become yet another forgettable body swap comedy.

The comedy style of the film isn't incredibly consistent. During the opening scene of the film the audience are presented with a situation that results in a baby shitting directly into Dave's mouth followed by a slew of scenes that present the comedy in a more traditional, dialogue driven manor which is in turn followed by sequences so filthy that they could have been ripped from the unwanted pages of the Superbad script. As an audience member this left me constantly having to change my mindset in order to sync up with the kind of film I was watching, a process that not only exhausted me of the film but also stinted the films hope of producing a genuine belly laugh from my begrudging interior void.

Direction wise the film is flawed but on the whole an adequate effort. David Dobkin's work here very much resembling his previous efforts which include Shanghai Knights, Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus. The compositions are dull yet to the point, the delivery is nothing special (with the exception of the two leads, who's comic timing doesn't require direction) and as a narrative the film passes by comfortably but never does anything to really draw you in. It's all very "middle of the road".

The biggest problem The Change Up has is it's writing. The script is unoriginal, unmotivated and relies too heavily on shock value in order to produce laughs. The situations played out in the film are variations on scenes that I've seen many times before and many of the characters are too one dimensional for any audience to ever begin to care about their plight or predicament. If it wasn't for Reynolds and Bateman, The Change Up wouldn't be funny in the slightest.


My final words on this are to avoid The Change Up unless your are drunk, stupid or off your face on crack, which based on what is left of modern day society should consist of everyone reading this review. So on that basis see the film, you'll love it.


However, for intellectual, superior minds like mine you should be warned that The Change Up is actually