This movie had lots of reasons to be bad, it’s literally Freaky Friday all over again but now with a family, and yes, this story is extremely derivative and there’s basically nothing new provided in this movie. But hey! I loved it! Family Switch made my day so much better, simply for how heartwarming this story was, way better than I expected. I’m pleasantly surprised.
The Walkers are a nuclear family of five: Mom Jess, Dad Bill, 16 year old daughter CC, 14 year old son Wyatt, and 2 year old son Miles. But when a mysterious event occurs at the Griffith Park Planetarium, the nuclear elements split and recombine; Jess’s mind is in CC’s body (and vice versa), while Bill’s mind is in Wyatt’s body (and vice versa). While CC and Wyatt try to navigate the impossibly complicated world that is adulthood (responsibilities, skills, fears, ambitions), Jess and Bill must work their way through the insanely intricate network of rites of passage (bullying, soccer games, music, parties, romance) that comes with being a teenager, while all four scramble to undo the spell that catastrophically recombined their personalities.
I understand if you tell me you’re not excited for this movie, but read this review and maybe I can change your mind. Family Switch is a Christmas family movie, it has a very simple and generic plot but this film is just full of heart and so many positive points to highlight.
Without a doubt, the cast is probably what standouts the most, the chemistry between the family is so good and they’re just so funny together. In the beginning, it was slightly tough to understand who is who, because the adults weren’t acting like the kids so I had a step back for a while until the movie started to climb uphill and just get better. This movie is inspirational, the scenes of Garner and Myers are so good, they’re so funny interacting and so is Helms and Noon, also great actors that delivered an excellent performance. The baby swapping bodies with the dog might have been one of the best ideas this movie had, and it made me laugh so hard the fact they put Matthias Schweighöfer to babysit them!
I love Emma Myers, her performance in Wednesday was so remarkable and now she brings yet another enjoyable and fun character that will really have you laughing and hooked for the whole movie. This scene hits so hard with the emotional beats, I love the way the movie managed to balance the emotional part to the comedy.
Another great thing about this movie are the jokes, they were well timed and actually funny, something hard to see from Netflix comedies nowadays. Something that bothered me was the way the script just rushed everything without explaining, for example: There’s a scene where Myers’ character has to make a presentation, replacing her mom, at work and we just don’t see her mom explaining what to do at any moment, she’s just, out of a sudden, sitting there with no preparation.
But I’d be lying if I say I didn’t enjoy this movie because I really did. Family Switch was a surprising early Christmas gift. The movie is heartwarming, with some great emotional beats and a cast that work so well together. Emma Myers keeps being the queen she was born to be.
★★★★
Family Switch releases on Netflix on November 30
