When a chance encounter with an astrological reader causes the Walkers to wake up to a full body switch, can they unite to land a promotion, college interview, record deal, and soccer tryout... Read allWhen a chance encounter with an astrological reader causes the Walkers to wake up to a full body switch, can they unite to land a promotion, college interview, record deal, and soccer tryout?When a chance encounter with an astrological reader causes the Walkers to wake up to a full body switch, can they unite to land a promotion, college interview, record deal, and soccer tryout?
- Awards
- 2 wins & 4 nominations total
Featured reviews
Is this a masterpiece ? No.
Does it deserve the bad critics? No.
Let's take the movie for what it is: a light family movie you can totally enjoy during the period of Christmas.
I watched the movie with my kids yesterday (10 and 8 years) and my wife.
We all enjoyed. The jokes are not always crazy good but good enough to make us laugh and have a good time.
The movie is obviously predictable but still, it did not bother me/us that much.
I would still recommend to people with a young family. It's light, entertaining and as mentioned funny.
Even for us as parents, there are some interesting messages (again, it's not deep but still, some nice reminders here and there that I enjoyed).
Give it a shot unless light family comedies aren't your thing.
Does it deserve the bad critics? No.
Let's take the movie for what it is: a light family movie you can totally enjoy during the period of Christmas.
I watched the movie with my kids yesterday (10 and 8 years) and my wife.
We all enjoyed. The jokes are not always crazy good but good enough to make us laugh and have a good time.
The movie is obviously predictable but still, it did not bother me/us that much.
I would still recommend to people with a young family. It's light, entertaining and as mentioned funny.
Even for us as parents, there are some interesting messages (again, it's not deep but still, some nice reminders here and there that I enjoyed).
Give it a shot unless light family comedies aren't your thing.
The premise is fairly familiar - parents switch bodies with their children, and the structure is exactly what you would expect it to be, but what separates it from the films it references such as Big, 17 Again, Freaky Friday, and 13 Going on 30 (also starring Jennifer Garner) is that they gave room to let its characters breathe and apply a degree of verisimilitude to buy into the concept and the conflict. Right from the start, it appears that the people who worked on this had the mindset of either to go big or to go home, as a lot of it is fairly over-the-top, and comes across desperate to get a laugh from the viewer. The humor has its moments of attempted cleverness, but there is a lot of lowbrow comedy that diminishes the efforts to be smart. What doesn't work in the favor of the picture, is that the premise is presented three times in the story, and because the pace of it is very fast, and they're constantly trying to go for big laughs, there is not a clear enough focus and not enough time to invest in the relationships and conflict. I have not read the story this is based off of, so I cannot judge it as an adaptation, as a motion picture though I would have to describe this as being average at best, I probably would have rated it lower had it been released in theatres and I had to pay more than I do for Netflix monthly to watch it.
Yes we have seen the concept of intergenerational body swaps innumerable times. Yes there are the usual tropes. Yes it can be silly.
But this movie is actually infused with the spirit of Christmas.
We teared. We laughed. We smiled. We nodded knowingly. We laughed hysterically. We felt warm and happy at the end of it.
All the leads were good but I found Jennifer Garner and Emma Myers particularly good. Ms. Garner really showed her comic skills.
This will not make best picture but it will make my annual list of Christmas movies. After all if you can't get sentimental or mawkish at Christmas then when?
But this movie is actually infused with the spirit of Christmas.
We teared. We laughed. We smiled. We nodded knowingly. We laughed hysterically. We felt warm and happy at the end of it.
All the leads were good but I found Jennifer Garner and Emma Myers particularly good. Ms. Garner really showed her comic skills.
This will not make best picture but it will make my annual list of Christmas movies. After all if you can't get sentimental or mawkish at Christmas then when?
Jess (Jennifer Garner) and Bill Walker (Ed Helms) are a happily-married suburban couple, but they fear disconnecting from their kids. Daughter CC (Emma Myers) is the star football player. Son Wyatt (Brady Noon) is a science nerd. They with baby brother and dog go to the Griffith Park Planetarium. With a planetary alignment, a telescope, and psychic Angelica (Rita Moreno), the family get switched.
This is old hat for Jennifer Garner and the movie refers to her movie as well as others. Ed Helms is playing the music nerd teacher although the back story is leading towards former rock star. That conflict does cause some problems. This is mostly fine but very derivative. Garner can easily switch from stuffy to childish. Ed Helms is a little ill-fitting for the role. For example, Brady Noon is trying to play the dad like a leather jacket rocker in one scene and it doesn't fit his other scenes. The dog baby switch would be funnier if the CGI isn't so Son of the Mask. Of course, there is a dance sequence and I like the premise behind it. As for the band tryout, I don't understand why Wyatt with dad inside doesn't just play the gig. He can claim that dad is injured and the son had been learning from the dad. I do question director McG's style. His brand of humor is very broad and very low hanging fruit. This has a few fine comedic moments but most others are lesser family fun.
This is old hat for Jennifer Garner and the movie refers to her movie as well as others. Ed Helms is playing the music nerd teacher although the back story is leading towards former rock star. That conflict does cause some problems. This is mostly fine but very derivative. Garner can easily switch from stuffy to childish. Ed Helms is a little ill-fitting for the role. For example, Brady Noon is trying to play the dad like a leather jacket rocker in one scene and it doesn't fit his other scenes. The dog baby switch would be funnier if the CGI isn't so Son of the Mask. Of course, there is a dance sequence and I like the premise behind it. As for the band tryout, I don't understand why Wyatt with dad inside doesn't just play the gig. He can claim that dad is injured and the son had been learning from the dad. I do question director McG's style. His brand of humor is very broad and very low hanging fruit. This has a few fine comedic moments but most others are lesser family fun.
This still counts as a Christmas film despite only being set in the days leading up to it. I thought though it was a pretty magical film. Of course we know the story of big and freaky Friday but it is as Jess says a unique situation as a whole family has not been swapped before. Even dog pickle's and the baby get thier turn. I liked the acting here and it didn't feel cheesy like it is in some other holiday films like this. Garner. Helms and the two chil actoes were enjoyable and each of their goals you knew nothing would go right. Overall family switch was a nice holiday film and one certainly worthy of a re watch.
Did you know
- TriviaThe band "Dad or Alive" is made up of Ed Helms and the members of the band Weezer.
- GoofsCC could not be called up to the national US soccer team in the manner portrayed. This is an honor only really provided to the highest level professionals. Given the implicit skill level, she could potentially be called to the under 18 squad, but even then it would be a short term and seasonal honor, not a job you move away permanently for. A better/more likely scenario would have been the classic college scholarship route, or a local pro team coming seeking to sign her.
- ConnectionsFeatured in MsMojo: Top 10 Greatest Body Swap Movies (2023)
- SoundtracksSanta Claus Is Comin' to Town
Written by Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots
Performed by Jackson 5
Courtesy of Motown Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
- How long is Family Switch?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
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- Also known as
- Familia revuelta
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- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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