BOTTOM LINE: It’s not that “The Switch” is not watchable with its reasonably sincere performances by the cast, but it is forgettable and predictable; and the film is unsure of whether to be a romantic drama or comedy, creating a narrative that is clumsy and lacks direction.

THE GOOD: Wally (Jason Bateman) and Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) are best friends. One day, Kassie announces to Wally that she wants a baby and is going to try artificial insemination. Wally is against this, but Kassie continues on and finds a willing sperm donor in Roland (Patrick Wilson). At the insemination party, Wally gets blind drunk, and while in the bathroom, stumbles across Roland’s sample and accidentally spills it down the drain. In a panic, he puts his own ‘ingredients’ in to the cup. Kassie goes through with the insemination, and then leaves town. Seven years later, Kassie shows up with her son Sebastian (Thomas Robinson), who more than closely resembles Wally’s personality, especially as the two of them understand each other immediately. Wally then has to confront the truth behind the situation and also realise his true feelings for Kassie. The story itself is simple enough in its premise to hang a romantic comedy narrative, and the film is made watchable largely due to the sincerity in the performances of the cast, particularly Jason Bateman who delivers his smart but neurotic character in Wally to perfection, and Jeff Goldblum as his wise-cracking boss who is there to lend moral support. Jennifer Aniston is quite good in her role. The narrative is surprisingly low key given the genre it is trying to inhabit, and it does at least do the job of holding your interest just enough to see it through to the end.

THE BAD: The basic premise of the film seems more aligned with a silly comedy. When the male protagonist switches his ‘ingredients’ with that of the donor in a drunken stupor, it seems as if this is a film that could lead to something more potentially funny that what is depicted here. The film quickly moves in to more dramatic territory, and does not offer much of a compelling narrative. There are no situations or setups, other than watching the characters go through the motions of their lives. When things do come to a head and Wally tells Kassie the truth, Kassie’s first reaction is perfectly real, but the conventional Hollywood ending slapped on at the end is farcical. Would a woman really forgive a man who hijacked her inseminated pregnancy, no matter how well they got along in the first place? And on top of that, would she decide he is the man for her to give the story its obligatory happy ending? Even if you accepted this, seeing it occur within the space of five minutes, even with the mandatorily edited passage of time, makes the whole thing ridiculous. The ‘best-friend’ relationship between Wally and Kassie seems a little over the top as well, particularly as Wally actually does have feelings for her. His neurotic, pessimistic and smart attitude may make him get over this, but the inherent concept is not really believable enough to allow you to accept that they could be best friends with no issues or complications (outside of the donor switch). Ultimately, “The Switch” does not have a consistent tone or narrative, which does not give you an adequate sense of what the story is trying to achieve, and as such, is completely forgettable.