Strange 'Change'

How is 'The Change-Up' different from one of those 1980s 'body-switcher' movies? Well, for starters, it's incredibly raunchy

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In the 2010 drama “Every Day,” there’s a scene in which Ned,a TV show writer played by Liev Schreiber, has to pitch story ideas to hiscrass, ratings-hungry boss, Garrett (Eddie Izzard), who is dead-set on makinghis show as scandalous and shocking as possible. Ned eagerly throws out onedisgusting concept after another, until even the amoral, anything-for-a-laughGarrett is stunned into silence.

Watching “The Change-Up,” you might wonder if a similarscenario unfolded between director David Dobkin and screenwriters Jon Lucas andScott Moore. Here is a movie that begins with Jason Bateman’s face beingsplattered by a baby’s explosive diarrhea and goes on to include publicurination, scrotum shaving, jokes about attempted intercourse with women aboutto go into labor, gags about over-the-hill porno stars, wisecracks aboutmalfunctioning vibrators, references to various sexual styles, chatter aboutmasturbation techniques, anti-Semitic remarks, jabs at the Japanese and much,much more. Some of it, admittedly, is wildly funny in the vein of the original“Hangover” or “There’s Something About Mary.” But when “The Change-Up” doesn’twork, it’s painful to watch: As they flounder around in search of a laugh,Bateman and co-star Ryan Reynolds practically beg you to throw them lifepreservers.

In a summer that’s seen a bumper crop of comic raunchiness,courtesy of “The Hangover, Part II,” “Bridesmaids,” “Friends With Benefits,”“Horrible Bosses” and the like, “The Change-Up” still manages to stand out as atruly trashy farce. But it’s also — hold on to your hats — a late-1980s-stylebody-switcher fantasy, along the lines of “Like Father, Like Son,” “ViceVersa,” “18 Again” and a bunch of other maudlin comedies you probably satthrough and forgot about an hour after you left the theater.

Whimsical and dirty-minded, cuddly and crude, “TheChange-Up” is a bizarre mixed bag that’s occasionally hilarious, frequentlydisgusting, sometimes disturbing and ultimately just plain weird.

Lucas and Moore’s set-up is the usualbest-buddies-with-completely-different-lives hogwash. Dave Lockwood (Bateman)is a stressed-out corporate lawyer with a neglected wife (Leslie Mann), animpressionable young daughter and a demanding tag team of infant twins. MitchPlanko (Reynolds) is a carefree bachelor and a generally unemployed actor whohas made a career of dodging responsibilities and juggling hot numbers. After afew too many beers, Dave confesses he wishes he had Mitch’s life of “sex anddrugs and bad choices” and — wouldn’t you know it? — Mitch admits he pines forthe security and emotional support Dave has. And, before you can say “FreakyFriday,” well, you can guess the rest.

You may also rest assured that both Mitch and Dave willlearn neither situation is as alluring as it seems from the outside. Mitch’sslacker personality — now encased in Dave’s body — is absurdly out of whackwith the demands of family life and a law office run by fussy fuddy-duddies,while Dave can’t shake off his inhibitions and morals, even when he’s now incommand of Mitch’s stunning physique and his bedroom/playpen, which ought tohave its own revolving door.

Bateman and Reynolds sell every scene as if their careersdepended on it, and that’s generally enough to make “The Change-Up” worthwatching, even when you might prefer to look away. Bateman is particularly sharp in his early sequences shortly afterthe transformation, when he realizes he has no idea how to properly handlebabies (yes, the movie plays child abuse for laughs, too) or what constitutes acceptable business attire. Ingenue-of-the-momentOlivia Wilde adds an extra kick as Dave’s attractive, attentive associate, whodoesn’t mind loosening up after office hours, and Mann does what she can to puta little zip and color into the standard confused-wife role.

Dobkin scored a huge hit six summers ago with “WeddingCrashers,” a lively and generally uproarious movie that wore out its welcomewhen it turned mushy and soft-hearted in the last half-hour. So why shouldanyone be shocked that the same thing happens in “The Change-Up,” which spendsat least 90 minutes arguing that being well-behaved and polite is a sucker’sgame before abruptly kowtowing to conventionality as it heads into the homestretch? A film that has wallowed in political incorrectness and frat-housefantasies suddenly becomes a morality play and a ringing endorsement of theglories of suburban daddyhood and modern marriage. Both Mitch and Dave findtheir heads are spinning from all they’ve had to endure; viewers will identifywith the feeling.

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