The Switch

Watch the trailer, and you’ll think you have this whole story figured out. Like almost every other romantic comedy in existence, The Switch relies on heavy doses of predictability to structure a funny but safe narrative that we’ve seen before. So what saves this one from getting an “F” for forgettable? First, the storyline (based on a short story by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jeffrey Eugenides) gets credit for mild originality. Sure, it’s sort of a boy-meets-girl, boy falls in love story, except this time, the boy, Wally (Jason Bateman) drunkenly switches his sperm with the donor’s “goods,” leaving his friend, Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) unknowingly artificially inseminated by him. We haven’t seen that before. And, there are the strong supporting roles, with Jeff Goldblum as the perfectly awkward friend, and newcomer Thomas Robinson as irresistible Sebastian, the type A, hypochondriac offspring of Wally and Kassie. Let’s face it, cute kids always sell movie tickets, but cute, sophisticated, neurotic kids are way cooler. Tinseltown. Rated R