The Change-Up

The Change-Up
Director: David Dobkin (who did a good job with Wedding Crashers)
Stars: Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Olivia Wilde, and Leslie Mann
MPAA Rating: R (and for some very good reasons)
Saw it at: the theater that serves liquor and food
Saw it with: Jenna

My first little shiny, happy review is a good one for me to start with because I'm gonna have to think of just the right nice things to say.

First, it's nice that they have a title with a hyphen.  You don't see many hyphens in titles of movies, books, or TV shows.  So...good for them!

Let's see, secondly I do really like the cast when they're in good movies.  I'm so glad Jason Bateman is working as much as he is.  He's great at what he does which is usually the straight man while everyone else around him makes fools of themselves.

Third thing I kinda liked was when Bateman and Reynolds were basically doing impressions of each other's characters.  Unfortunately it got old quick. I'd like to think there's no way anyone would be as juvenile (I'm probably really wrong though) as Reynolds was when he was first getting through the days of being in Bateman's body.  I should mention that the characters had names but I can't remember them and can't be bothered to look them up. Someone was named Dave though.  I remember that.  Anyway the movie was pretty tedious for quite a while and you really had to slog through tons of, uh, frat boy humor for a very small 'lesson learned' payoff at the end.  But wait, I'm focusing on the positives, right?

Ok the fourth thing I liked was when they put each other through a smallish boot camp of how to navigate the other guy's life.  That was kind of amusing.

The fifth and best thing about the movie was the house Bateman and Leslie Mann (who played his wife) lived in.  I need that house.  I loved how it was decorated.  I even loved the appliances.  Yep that was a GREAT house.