NoFace for Film

Title: Switch
Year: 1991
Director: Blake Edwards
Starring Cast: Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, Lorraine Bracco
Rated: R

NoFace for Film rating: 4 out of 7

I recently caught Switch on cable. I think that the last time I had watched it before that was when it first came out, and I recall thinking it was pretty funny. After watching it again, I think that Switch had retained a decent chunk of its humor.

The plot is very simple. Steve Brooks (Perry King) is a successful ad executive and a sexist, male chauvinist pig. He’s a selfish bastard, has absolutely no respect for women, and just uses them for sex. Three angry and vengeful ex-girlfriends (Jobeth Williams, Lysette Anthony and Victoria Mahoney) murder him. Steve however, is given a second chance by temporarily returning to earth as a beautiful, sexy woman! Calling herself Amanda (Barkin) and introducing herself as Steve’s sister, Amanda now gets to experience what it’s like to be a woman in a macho man’s world.

The plot is a little silly, simplistic, and formulaic. The concept of someone in the body of a person the complete opposite of them has been done (e.g., the Freaky Friday movies). The idea is that it’s funny to see people behaving as someone totally different from them- adults behaving like children, men behaving like women. They look awkward and do silly things. Such is the case in Switch. Amanda has to learn to wear dresses, put on makeup, and wear heels. Unfortunately the learning curve is steep for her; her hair’s a mess, her makeup looks awful, and she keeps tripping as she walks. She still acts like a man- she doesn’t cross her legs when she sits, even in a dress; her posture and body language is very aggressive; she still leers at women.

Although I didn’t care much for the plot itself, I did like that it opened the door for many situations for Amanda to face as a woman, such as discrimination, sexism, and sexuality. One of the most interesting subplots concerns Amanda’s relationship with Sheila Faxton (Bracco), a powerful CEO of a perfume company and who happens to be a lesbian. How does a person with the mind of a macho, homophobic male and the body of a female deal with a lesbian?

To her credit, Barkin does a great job playing Amanda. She’s very funny and convincing as a man who’s very clumsy and awkward in his female body. However, while this was really funny in 1991, the visual gags may wear thin for today’s audience. Admittedly the stumbling high-heel jokes get a little old after a while. Regardless, Barkin was still great in this role. As Steve’s best friend Walter, Jimmy Smits is pretty funny as well, though not quite as funny as Barkin. To be honest, I don’t quite remember much about his character except that he often hit on Amanda, and she would hit him back with her fist. While Smits has his funny and tender moments, overall the character of Walter was rather forgettable.

Switch is definitely the type of movie you wouldn’t mind catching while channel surfing on the weekend. It’s great for cheap laughs.

Technorati Tags: Blake Edwards, Switch, Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, Lorraine Bracco, male chauvinist pig, macho, reincarnation, descrimination, sexism, sexuality, lesbian, homophobic, heterosexual