Screen Junkies » David Dobkin

Review: ‘The Change-Up’

Fred Topel — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 22:29:28 +0000

The Change-Up is a watchable generic comedy. It’s okay for a night out or a DVD, but it’s hard to call it good. We’re not talking embarrassing or offensive, but you still want more.

Dave (Jason Bateman) and Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) switch bodies thanks to a magic fountain. At least the film has the decency to acknowledge that it doesn’t really matter what caused the body swapping. They pee in a fountain, the lights black out, they wake up as each other. Boom.

Exclusive: 'Change-Up' Red-Band Trailer Gets A Little Randy

It turns out they weren’t really jealous of each other’s lives. They were each just being polite. So it’s not a wish fulfillment. Mitch is now saddled with a job and a family and Dave is forced to be an actor on a lorno set (light porno, a totally contrived sequence that goes for the easiest laughs). The poster is a lie. Dave never has three ways with hot girls. All his sexual encounters are played for laughs.

It’s funnier to see Bateman and Reynolds play each other’s personas than their own. Maybe they should really switch. The script is not what I’d call inspired though. Dave and Mitch do a lot of babbling. Their dialogue is not clever, but they say it so fast the audience thinks they’ve heard jokes. To their credit, that’s probably the actors’ improv and it’s probably an improvement over what was actually written.

6 photosLeslie Mann

Mitch being inappropriate to Dave’s kids is a really thin joke. He teaches Dave’s daughter to fight back against a ballet school bully, but pointing out the insincerity of stroking a child’s ego doesn’t really seem like a joke. After the first few F bombs, we get it. He’s swearing in front of children.

Dave’s wife Jamie (Leslie Mann) is legitimately upset by these shenanigans. She’s trying to keep her family together, making her the perfect straight woman. If only she had some good comedy to which she could react.

Mitch and Dave learn about themselves by taking each other’s perspectives. Mitch gets to hear his dad (Alan Arkin) say something nice about him, because dad can only say it to Dave. Dave sees what a bad husband he’s been because Jamie can only confide in Mitch. Mitch experiences a child’s love. Awww.

Oh, Dave is also working on a major deal for his promotion, which is the generic job Mitch has to learn how to do when they switch bodies. I mean, it’s not as horrifying as 17 Again, also starring Mann and another recent take on the ‘80s high concept. That was all about a guy wishing he hadn’t abandoned the teenage girl he knocked up, and it had Thomas Lennon peacocking. So go see The Change-Up for a body swapping comedy that’s more focused on poop and butt hole jokes.

See A Free Advanced Screening Of ‘The Change-Up’

Col. Longshanks — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:00:56 +0000

‘The Change-Up’ Trailer: A Bateman/Reynolds Body Switch

Universal Pictures is giving Screen Junkies readers the opportunity to see a free advanced screening of The Change-Up. The hilariously raunchy body-switching comedy from the director of Wedding Crashers and the writer of The Hangover stars Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman. The screenings are happening in several cities across the country, each allowing ten attendees with a guest. Get your butts over to THIS SITE right now to sign up and secure your spot. Then snap a pool cue in half, drop it in the center of a circle of your friends, and tell them whomever is left standing gets to be your plus one.

WB Bestows Dobkin With Lots Of Coin For ‘Arthur And Lancelot’

Penn Collins — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 00:35:01 +0000

Warner Bros has paid $2 million for the Arthur and Lancelot spec script from David Dobkin in a deal that will also see him directing the story of the chivalric heroes, set in modern times.

This $90 million project will serve as something of a departure for Dobkin, who has trafficked in mid-budget comedies such as Wedding Crashers, Fred Claus, and several other films that have no connection at all to Vince Vaughn. His most recent project, The Change-Up, bows in a few weeks.

Warner Bros beat out Universal and Fox for the rights to the script and Dobkin’s talents, which would indicate some buzz around the project. Whether or not this will be a straight actioner or something more akin to Dobkin’s Shanghai Knights is not yet known. They’d have to work in a reason for roundhouse kicks. (Deadline)

Here’s ‘The Change-Up’ Trailer You Can Watch With The Whole Family

Penn Collins — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:00:33 +0000

It’s a little less tawdry than the original red-band trailer we showed you, but don’t worry, there’s still liquid poop flying in Jason Bateman‘s eyes and talk of the lovemaking positions “The Arsenio Hall” and “Arabian Goggles.” The Change-Up will cause you to forget everything you ever knew about mind-transfer comedies, which, if you’re born after 1985, shouldn’t be too difficult.

Beyond that, this trailer is pretty similar to the one from before. But don’t dismiss it entirely. Let it serve as another reminder that you should never make wishes in front of unfamiliar statues. Because they might grant them. And then you might inherit your friend’s body and life, neither of which are as good as Ryan Reynolds‘. I promise you.

‘The Change-Up’ Trailer: A Bateman/Reynolds Body Switch

Penn Collins — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:08:12 +0000

The Jason Bateman/Ryan Reynolds comedy The Change-Up has a trailer. Which is good, because we were getting a little sick of staring at this one image for the past few months. The film features one of my favorite plot devices – the ‘ole mind/body switch-a-roo. In this instance, Reynolds is the carefree bachelor while Bateman is a Michael Bluth-type family man. They envy each other, get struck by lightning, switch bodies, and hilarity ensues.

How do I know hilarity ensues? I don’t, but it’s an educated guess. The film is directed by the helmer of Wedding Crashers and written by The Hangover guys. Call it a hunch.

We’ve also got a poster for you. It would appear that both men are having threesomes, only Jason Bateman‘s is with babies. Pretty edgy stuff.

Olivia Wilde Causes ‘The Change Up’

Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Blowing out magical birthday candles, touching an ancient artifact, pissing off a gypsy, and wanting to bang Olivia Wilde so hard. All are now acceptable catalysts for the plots of body swapping comedies. Wilde just joined the cast of David Dobkin‘s The Change Up.

In the film, Jason Bateman plays a married man who switches bodies with his slacker best friend Ryan Reynolds. Wilde plays a co-worker of Bateman and is cited as a reason for the body swap. I assume that means so that he could bang her. I guess it could mean something else, but this is what makes the most sense to me. It’s the perfect plan, and I’m sure guys everywhere are going to try to pull it off themselves. Now Hans, here. Hold this live electrical wire at precisely the same time as me. (Deadline)