The Change Up (2011)

The Change-Up is a 2011 American body-swap comedy film produced and directed by David Dobkin, written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, and starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman. The film was released on August 5, 2011 in North America by Universal Pictures.

The Plot

Growing up together, Mitch Planko and Dave Lockwood (Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman) were two inseparable best friends, but as the years have passed, they have slowly drifted apart. Dave is an overworked lawyer, husband, and father of three children (Sydney Rouviere and Lauren and Luke Bain) and Mitch is a single, quasi-employed man-child who has never met a responsibility he liked. To Mitch, Dave has it all: his beautiful wife Jamie (Leslie Mann) and three children who adore him and a high-paying job at a prestigious law firm. To Dave, living Mitch's stress-free life without obligation or consequence would be a dream come true.

Following a drunken night out together, Mitch and Dave urinate in a wishing fountain and remark that they wish they had each others' lives. Their worlds are turned upside down when they wake up in each other's bodies and proceed to freak out. Despite the freedom from their normal routines and habits, Mitch and Dave soon discover that each other's lives are nowhere near as rosy as they once seemed. Afterwards, Mitch and Dave go to find the fountain, but it has been moved to an undisclosed address. Dave now enlists that Mitch go to his work and hand in documents, which leads to disastrous results, and Mitch enlists that Dave go to his film shoot. When Dave arrives at the set, he finds out that the film is a "lorno" movie. Further complicating matters are Dave's sexy legal associate, Sabrina McArdle (Olivia Wilde) and Mitch's estranged father, Mitch, Sr. (Alan Arkin). With time not on their side, Mitch and Dave struggle to avoid completely destroying each other's lives before they can find a way to get their old ones back.

Reviews

As of November 2011, the film has received negative reviews, attaining a 24% aggregate approval rating based on 141 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with a rating average of 4.4 out of 10. The site's consensus is that "there's a certain amount of fun to be had from watching Bateman and Reynolds play against type, but it isn't enough to carry The Change-Up through its crude humor and formulaic plot." The film also received a score of 39 out of 100 from review aggregate Metacritic, which indicates "generally unfavorable", based on 35 reviews. British newspaper The Telegraph named The Change-Up one of the ten worst films of 2011, saying "Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman have skill, charm, timing – everything but the right script." However, despite all these negative reviews, Moviefone reviewer Aiden Redmond called the film "absolutely hilarious." In addition, Mark S. Allen of CBS Sacramento said that, "Reynolds and Bateman are the perfect comedy duo."

The Cast

Ryan Reynolds as Mitch Planko
 Jason Bateman as Dave Lockwood
 Leslie Mann as Jamie Lockwood
 Olivia Wilde as Sabrina McArdle
 Alan Arkin as Mitch's Dad
 Mircea Monroe as Tatiana
 Gregory Itzin as Flemming Steel
 Ned Schmidtke as Ted Norton
 Ming Lo as Ken Kinkabe
 Sydney Rouviere as Cara Lockwood
 Dax Griffin as Blow-Dried Goon
 Andrea Moore as Sophia