The Change-Up

Two long-time buddies have a "Freaky Friday" experience when they wish for each other's life and get it. One is a lawyer (Justin Bateman), married with three kids and a demanding job. The other is an aspiring actor, single with an addiction to pot smoking and loose women. Following the lead of other raunchy comedy hits like "The Hangover", "Bridesmaids", and "Bad Teacher", it pushes the limits of good taste trying to be funny with shockingly wrong behavior. This will still get plenty of laughs, but Alien feels it crosses the line. The wonderful cast also includes Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, and Alan Arkin; what a waste of talent. Bateman and Reynolds are terrific comedic actors, but they don't even try to take on the other's mannerisms when they switch. Gratuitous nudity, gross visual acts, and f-bombs are inserted for cheap humor. Supposedly, this was an early working copy that was complete but unfinished. Ironically, Alien can't see how any change-ups can fix "The Change-Up". Even if the filmmakers could clean it up to a PG-13 rating, it would just be a mediocre comedy at best.

Alien gives it 1 ½ "shock and awe" stars out of 4.