A One Mann’s Movies review of “Family Switch” (2023).
Sigh…. While Disney’s “Freaky Friday” (with Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster) in 1976 was fresh and original, this is a genre that has really been done to death. “Family Switch” has some moments of good humour, but overall feels like a lazy retelling of the same old schtick.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
The Walker family – Bill (Ed Helms), Jess (Jennifer Garner), CC (Emma Myers) and Wyatt (Brady Noon) – are stressed since they all have events critical to their respective futures happening on one particular day, just before Christmas. It’s unfortunate then that, due to some hocus pocus inflicted on them by the mystic Angelica (Rita Moreno), father and son, mother and daughter and indeed baby and dog all swap bodies for the following day.
Certification:
UK: PG; US: PG. (From the BBFC web site: “Innuendo, violence”).
Talent:
Starring: Ed Helms, Jennifer Garner, Emma Myers, Brady Noon, Rita Moreno, Matthias Schweighöfer, Vanessa Carrasco.
Directed by: McG.
Written by: Victoria Strouse & Adam Sztykiel. (Based on the book “Bedtime for Mommy” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.)
Twitter Handle: #FamilySwitch.
Running Time: 1h 46m.
Rita Moreno (Left) as the mystic Angelica doesn’t seem sure she’s in the right movie. (Source: Netflix).
“Family Switch” Review:
Positives:
- There are some moments of “smile-worthy” comedy in this. The baby/dog swap hasn’t (I don’t think) been done before, so seeing a CGI’d toddler running round the house like a dog is fun.
- The ‘Walker dance’ at the party is quite a fun sequence.
Negatives:
- The Illustrious Mrs Movie Man summed it up pretty well when she said “Why did they bother?” It feels like a tired warmed-over hash. It adds a Christmas setting for very little purpose, such that I hardly think this counts as a ‘Christmas film’.
- The whole ‘planetary alignment’/hocus pocus aspect of the swap seems thin and nonsensical. (Note to non-astonomers: if the planets are really aligned then they won’t appear in a line in the sky!) It all feels like a concoction developed by the scriptwriters on a bar napkin after a couple too many. (“Yeah, that’ll be fine… noone will care”.)
- It feels particularly lazy that there is no gender swap involved in the switches – why not father to daughter and mother to son to add more opportunities for reflective fun? (Think Jack Black in “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”!)
- Matthias Schweighöfer is pretty much wasted in what is little more than a gurning cameo.
OK.. the dance sequence was quite fun. From left, Ed Helms, .Brady Noon, Emma Myers and Jennifer Garner. (Source: Netflix).
Summary Thoughts on “Family Switch”
I was intending to give this one 3 stars. But in writing the review, I really can’t bring myself to. It’s only marginally bearable.
Do yourself a favour and watch the original “Freaky Friday” again. Or even the Lindsay Lohan/Jamie Lee Curtis remake. If you want to feel Christmassy, put some tinsel in your hair.
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Trailer for “Family Switch”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWh4c9EVqGM .
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