REVIEW: The Change-Up

Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman star in this comedy about two best friends who awake to find themselves trapped in the body of the other. From the director of The Wedding Crashers. Screening nationwide, click for movie times and trailer.

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Gleefully anti-PC, David Dobkin's R-rated body swap bromance comes across as trying a little too hard. Like the Farrelly's Hall Pass, Change-Up mines the comedy from married men attempting to behave badly, but here with added swears and boobies.

Whilst Bateman, reprising his uptight Horrible Bosses shtick, makes for a good straight man, Reynolds struggles with his bad-boy role, only looking comfortable after the initial switch takes place. Kudos to Hangover scribes Lucas and Moore for attempting to explore the darker, adult possibilities of a body swap scenario but somewhere along the line their tonal and taste levels went askew. Similarly raunchy films like Hall Pass, Wedding Crashers, Knocked Up and American Pie were balanced by an underlying sweetness and strong female characters, here the likes of Olivia Wilde and Leslie Mann are reduced to career-climbing, sex-hungry, tits out (although, sorry boys, Wilde's are covered) caricatures.

Worse still, despite all the potty talk (literally in some cases), gratuitous nudity and gross-out gags, the film still insists on towing the "family must come first'' and "everybody learns a lesson'' Hollywood party line. Even the most ardent "adult'' comedy fans will emerge feeling slightly dirty and more than just vaguely disappointed.

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