SummaryJess (Jennifer Garner) and Bill Walker (Ed Helms) are doing their best to keep their family connected as their children grow older, more independent, and more distant. When a chance encounter with an astrological reader causes the family to wake up to a full body switch, on the morning of the most important day of each of their lives, ca...
SummaryJess (Jennifer Garner) and Bill Walker (Ed Helms) are doing their best to keep their family connected as their children grow older, more independent, and more distant. When a chance encounter with an astrological reader causes the family to wake up to a full body switch, on the morning of the most important day of each of their lives, ca...
This is not the best of the family body switch movies, and for sure, it is not the last, but the irresistible concept and outstanding cast make it a worthwhile family watch.
The body-swap comedy isn’t good so much as it is completely and totally innocuous. Its characters are drawn in the broadest of strokes and the plot points unfold along creakily predictable beats, but it’s too blandly sweet to be irritating or offensive.
Si bien la trama es muy parecida a otras películas de cambio de cuerpo, Family Switch tiene algunas fallas en el guión, pero destaca la actuación de Emma Myers quien sostiene la película. Sin duda recomendable para ver en familia.
With Garner at the helm of a film that fires up some endearing energy from start to finish, Family Switch is not a perfect film, but it’s glossy, humble, and good-natured enough for an easy watch this holiday season.
The yuletide drama takes a more-the-merrier approach to the trading-places trope, offering a smorgasbord of stock characters for couch-bound viewers to relate to.
No, it’s not the least bit original. It’s cheesy to the point of lactose intolerant, which is another way of saying it’s loaded with fart jokes. And yes, the best laughs reside in the outtakes under the credits. Which include fart jokes.
The real nail in the coffin is the film’s messaging about the power of family, which is about as tacked-on and stilted as they come — hardly a shock in light of the rest of the Netflix holiday movie lineup.
IN A NUTSHELL:
Netflix offers a family-friendly comedy that also serves as a holiday-themed flick. The body-switching movie was directed by McG. Writing credits go to Chris Shafer, Victoria Strouse, Adam Sztykiel, and Paul Vicknair.
The story is about a family who has a chance encounter with an astrological reader who mysteriously causes them to wake up to a full-body switch. Their next day is filled with important events for each one which complicates and entertains.
THINGS I LIKED:
I adore Jennifer Garner and am always happy to see her in anything. I thought she was so fantastic in her fun TV series Alias. Did you ever see that?
While the script isn't incredible, the fantastic class makes up for it. Check out the fan favorites: Ed Helms, Matthias Schweighofer, Rita Moreno, Fortune Feimster, Howie Mandel, Paul Scheer. The new, young actors I hadn't seen before are Emma Myers and Brady Noon.
There is plenty of heart as the family learns to appreciate what each other is going through in their life.
I love it when movies reference other movies. For example, Ed Helms' character says he's "13 Going on 30" which is an adorable body-swap movie that also stars Jennifer Garner.
The movie was originally going to be called "Family Leave." It's actually not a bad name, although the current name is perfectly descriptive.
You'll get some Christmas cheer with some fun songs.
Keep watching during the final closing credits to watch some funny bloopers.
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:
Wow, most of those high school students definitely didn't look like high school kids!
The plot doesn't exactly break any new ground in this genre, except maybe the fact that an entire family swaps places.
The situations are ridiculous with a lot of over-the-top acting moments.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
Lots of farting
We see a dog urinate a lot
Close-up shot of a colonoscopy
Teen partying
Some profanity
Lots of bad behavior
Spitting
Adults & teens drink alcohol
Awkward kissing
It is another bare minimum Entertaining movie from Netflix, that misses the mark with every scene it takes, the magic behind this film does not make sense, I only found the Father and the Daughter interesting.
The brother and mother have the worst storyline.
This film misses so many opportunities that it struggles to find a main character or use effects that help to convey the plot.
Some jokes do land but it's very disjointed, and at some points going too fast with its flow.
I will give this though, Emma Myers is good at acting in this film, and she is relatable, the problem is that they switch bodies and the characters become hard to follow because you have to remember that they switched.
The CGI in this film is of the lowest quality, and the Christmas magic is just stupid. Why would planets alining and an old lady in a van have the power to switch people's **** just does not make sense.
It's a mixed bag with this one, but I watched through all of it.
6/10, Maybe this film should have focused on the daughter more or entirely to make it more compelling and personal.
If you are looking for a good family movie watch Instant Family, now that's a banger.
A Christmas family drama from the creators of 13 going on 30 and 17-again, starring Jennifer Garner. These words gave the millennials a lot of excitement to watch a dose of nostalgia in this new drama film. But it is an absolute failure. Are we going to say goodbye forever to a good feel-good movie? There is a noticeable decline in the quality of production for the family drama films in the past 10 years. Replicating the story line of 17-again and 13 going on 30 as an idea is interesting especially from the creators themselves. But the story in this film is so worn out and lacks good basic VFX. Overall the viewer wouldn’t end up feeling the coziness **** Christmas family movie.
The timing of the holidays and its destined fate in the streaming abyss, created solely to offer Netflix fresh content, are the sole factors ensuring this movie earns a brief mention in the next two weeks before the year ends.