Fun Yet Predictable Holiday Body-Swap Comedy with Star-Studded Charm

Summary

• Family Switch is a holiday comedy that features a body-swapping plot, which has been seen in other films like 13 Going on 30 and Freaky Friday.
• The film stars Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emma Myers, and Brady Noon, who deliver plenty of charm in their roles.
• The movie is filled with comedic antics, action scenes, and physical comedy, leading up to a heartwarming end that audiences of all ages can enjoy despite the predictability.

Family Switch feels like one of those holiday gifts you’d pluck from a filled stocking, hoping to get your hands on a surprisingly cool present. Instead, you get an acceptable gift card or something of that ilk. You’re grateful, but boy, you find yourself craving something more. That immediately comes to mind when, 20 minutes into the new Netflix body-swapping comedy, four family members wake up one morning in different skin. Mom and daughter have swapped bodies, and so have father and son. Cue: screams of uncertainty.

A Google search of this phenomenon comes up short, and one character quips in a supposedly self-aware way: “This is a completely unique and original situation that has never happened before.” But my dear, it has. In 13 Going on 30, Freaky, Change-Up, Freaky Friday, All of Me, Prelude to a Kiss, and 17 Again, to name a few. The difference here is that the McG-directed film, written by Victoria Strouse and Adam Sztykiel, and based on the book Bedtime for Mommy by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, sets this tale during the feverish holiday season, giving the film and its fine actors a creative playing field in which to frantically move through.

Stars Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emma Myers, and Brady Noon are at the top of their family-comedy game here, serving up plenty of laughs. So, while our psyches may have become a bit jaded by this trope, fear not. There is more than enough to appreciate in Family Switch.

A Flurry of Comedic Antics

Family Switch

Release Date November 30, 2023

Director McG

Cast Emma Myers, Jennifer Garner, Rita Moreno, Ed Helms, Matthias Schweighöfer

Rating PG

Runtime 1hr 41min

Main Genre Comedy

Family Switch recalls the 2020 French film Family Swap, which had a similar plot. Here, Jess and Bill Walker (Garner and Helms) overextend themselves to keep their family connected while kids CC and Wyatt (Emma Myers and Brady Noon) become more independent, and as befits the 2020s, more distant. A chance encounter with an astrological reader (Rita Moreno) somehow aligns with a curious cosmic event at an observatory, and the following day the family wakes up to a full body switch.

The timing is unfortunate because that particular morning happened to fall on the most important day of each of their lives. The adults have a work promotion and a record deal to nab, and the kids have a college interview and soccer tryout. All this just a few days before Christmas. But let’s not overthink the creative timing as school would typically be out at that point. Just go with it because, after the initial set-up, the writers roll out the hilarity and director McG has fun with a bevy of action scenes and physical comedy.

Related: Best Christmas Movies of the 2010s, Ranked

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Garner in this genre, of course, and there seems to be no expiration date on loving 13 Going on 30. Here, the star gives us the Jennifer Garner we’ve all come to know and love post-Alias — cheery, funny, and quick on her feet. Literally. If you’d think Garner would phone in her performance, playing a teenager trapped in an adult body, she occasionally surprises you here with her comedic timing. “Mom,” she muses, staring at herself in the mirror, clad in exercise pants, “check out your biscuit,” only to further remark on the size of momma’s booty. Fun. Garner is the brightest beacon here, although the rest of the cast effectively pours on the charm.

Leads Up to a Fine Finish

As the holiday comedy moves through its one-hour, 45-minute run time (some tightening would have elevated the entire project a bit), dashing through one high-stakes endeavor after another ensues. These all play out to winning ends, despite some obvious predictable beats. There’s great fun in watching young Brady Noon, in fact, “play” adult with those he comes in contact with. Emma Myers captures adult Jess just fine. Ed Helms delivers a fine turn playing a brainy but unsettled teenage kid, a sheer contrast to Bill’s more sporty self.

Fortunately, the dialogue is never dead on arrival. For every, “Honestly, I want to be you. I would kill to eat a dozen donuts and have it burn right off,” there’s a “You don’t have a care in the world. You get up, you have a little Gatorade” and a “My intimacy doula, Blaze, says couples need a minimum of 12 kisses a day just to sustain a relationship.” Wickedly fun to see how Garner and Helms react to that one, because they’re siblings at that point.

Related: 20 Best Christmas Movies On Netflix to Watch Right Now

Holiday house parties, a ladies’ get-together, a soccer match, and other events give the clan plenty to play off and react to. Matthias Schweighöfer (Oppenheimer), Fortune Feimster (The Mindy Project), Howie Mandel, Ned Ballamy (Blonde), and other stars also provide additional comedic fuel. Their characters aren’t given that much to do other than support the core four, but it’s nice to see these familiar faces. McG et al. make fine use of several special effects, zapping a bit of mystery into the mix.

Then, just when you believe you’ve seen it all, Family Switch surprises you with a heartwarming finish that audiences of all ages can relate to. None of us really know what it’s like to be in another person’s shoes, so while it may not bop around in an entirely new playing field, it’s still fun to watch the antics in this game. Witty, upbeat, and full of heart, Family Switch may just be a fine stocking stuffer, after all. Family Switch streams on Netflix beginning November 30; click the link below to watch the film.

Watch on Netflix

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