FAMILY SWITCH -- Familiar Body-Swap Comedy Hits the Right Notes

Review by Cole Groth

McG’s had an exciting filmography, with campy slasher, fun action flicks, and a critically maligned Terminator sequel under his belt. If you had to guess what was next for him, you probably wouldn’t have guessed Family Switch, a body swap comedy about a dysfunctional family who live through a tumultuous Christmas while occupying the bodies of their older or younger relatives. It’s a straightforward film with a mixed bag of cheesy jokes, but the emotional core keeps this from being anything less than enjoyable.

At first, Family Switch seems doomed to be an incessantly annoying comedy. The family — played by Ed Helms, Jennifer Garner, Emma Myers, and Brady Noon — have the annoying stereotypes expected with this kind of movie. The mom is a strong leader, and the dad an incompetent fool. Both can’t connect with their son, who’s too busy acting like he’s the smartest kid in the world, and daughter, who cares more about sports than anything else. The family is a mess, and the setup doesn’t seem funny. After a day of arguing leads them to a telescope and a wish that they would spend a day in each other’s shoes, the family finds themselves in the titular predicament. Hilarity ensues.

No, seriously! It’s a very funny movie, and director McG does a good job of keeping it relatively fresh as a concept. It’s generic plot-wise, but works well because the cast is a lot of fun. There’s a sequence where the parents (in their kids’ bodies) go out to a party, and that scene stands out as the best of the movie. Some of the jokes are eye-rollingly stupid, and some are genuinely hilarious. It’s uneven, to be sure, but funnier more often than unfunny.

The leading cast feels all too familiar in the beginning, but once the switch is made, they’re a lot of fun. Jennifer Garner is funny (and pretty gross), and Ed Helms plays a mostly familiar role, but the real standouts are Emma Myers and Brady Noon. Myers, in particular, does a good job of acting like an adult in a kid’s body. Rita Moreno and Matthias Schweighöfer have minor roles and are both excellent additions to the cast.

On a technical level, there’s nothing to write home about this. The world the Walker family occupies feels pretty realistic, and the production design is nice. From an editing and cinematographic perspective, it’s nothing remarkable. The pacing is good, and the story as a whole feels helped by a 105-minute runtime.

For families looking for a holiday movie, this is a great option to watch. It’s great fun for kids and has some good jokes that’ll keep adults happy, too. With fun leading performances and a good holiday atmosphere, it’s an overall solid watch for the Christmas season and a good addition to McG’s filmography.

Family Switch releases on Netflix on November 30.

Rating: 3.5/5