The Change-Up (2011)

Dave is a married man with three kids and a loving wife, and Mitch is a single man who is at the prime of his sexual life. One fateful night while Mitch and Dave are peeing in a fountain, lightning strikes and they switch bodies.

Director:

David Dobkin

Writers:

Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

Stars:

Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Olivia Wilde

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan Reynolds	...	Mitch Planko
Jason Bateman	...	Dave Lockwood
Leslie Mann	...	Jamie Lockwood
Olivia Wilde	...	Sabrina McKay
Alan Arkin	...	Mitch's Dad
Mircea Monroe	...	Tatiana
Gregory Itzin	...	Flemming Steel
Ned Schmidtke	...	Ted Norton
Ming Lo	...	Ken Kinkabe
Sydney Rouviere	...	Cara Lockwood
Craig Bierko	...	Valtan
Dax Griffin	...	Blow-Dried Goon
Andrea Moore	...	Sophia
Matt Cornwell	...	Parks Foreman (as Matthew Cornwell)
Taaffe O'Connell	...	Mona

Storyline

Growing up together, Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) and Dave (Jason Bateman) were inseparable best friends, but as the years have passed they've slowly drifted apart. While Dave is an overworked lawyer, husband and father of three, Mitch has remained a single, quasi-employed man-child who has never met a responsibility he liked. To Mitch, Dave has it all: beautiful wife Jamie (Leslie Mann), kids who adore him and a high-paying job at a prestigious law firm. To Dave, living Mitch's stress-free life without obligation or consequence would be a dream come true. Following a drunken night out together, Mitch and Dave's worlds are turned upside down when they wake up in each other's bodies and proceed to freak out. Despite the freedom from their normal routines and habits, the guys soon discover that each other's lives are nowhere near as rosy as they once seemed. Further complicating matters are Dave's sexy legal associate, Sabrina (Olivia Wilde) and Mitch's estranged father (Alan Arkin). With time...

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Plot Keywords:

fountain | lawyer | law firm | best friend | statue | 

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Taglines:

Who says men can't change?

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong crude sexual content and language, some graphic nudity and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Spain] Universal [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 August 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

El cambiazo

Filming Locations:

Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$52,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$13,531,115 (USA) (5 August 2011)

Gross:

$37,035,845 (USA) (23 September 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Original Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 118 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS (as Datasat Digital Sound) SDDS Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot over 62 days.

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Goofs

The day after they switch bodies, Dave (in Mitch's body) rips into Mitch (in Dave's body) for failing to pick up the twins from daycare the day before. But in reality, Dave should be blaming himself for not telling Mitch that he needed to pick them up as well as Cara. Either Dave did not know it was his day to pick the twins up or he was so distracted by the body switching thing that he must've forgotten to mention that they needed to be picked up.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jamie Lockwood: [early morning baby crying] Your turn...

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Connections

Referenced in Family Guy: Stewie Goes for a Drive (2011)

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Soundtracks

Brass Monkey
Written by Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin
Performed by Beastie Boys
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

The Change-Up is crude, vulgar and absolutely hilarious!

Without even seeing it, some people have bashed this film because of it's unoriginal concept. That's true. It has been done before. You can think of it as Freaky Friday... except with dudes and really amped up! From the first few minutes the movie was crude and vulgar... and absolutely hilarious! But what else is to be expected when two mega forces in comedy come together? David Dobkin, the director of Wedding Crashers, and Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, the writers of The Hangover... just an awesome combination that really paid off on screen! Of course, I can't forget to mention the incredibly funny cast that worked so well together: Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann and Olivia Wilde... even Alan Arkin is in there! The writing is funny, but the comedic timing and performances were just so perfect and what truly made the film hilarious! The story focuses on two childhood pals, Mitch (Reynolds), who dropped out of high school to become an actor and is just a promiscuous mess, and Dave (Bateman), who has worked hard all his life to be a successful lawyer, has a wonderful family and is close to making partner at his firm. One night, though, while going out and catching up after being vacant from one another's lives for a brief time, they get to talking about their lives and drunkenly wish they could take a walk in the other's shoes, but be careful what you wish for when you are pissing in a magic fountain... The next morning the two awake to discover that they have switched bodies. And, although, after freaking out they begin to explore this new freedom, they soon learn that the escape from their normal lives isn't as glorious as they had imagined and begin looking for a way to return to their rightful bodies.

Despite being wildly hilarious, the film also weaves in some very subtle moments that back up the comedy with a great heart. I recently saw that the general view of the critics is "Skip it!" which was enough to tell you how good the film actually is, but having, now, seen it myself... I say you'd be crazy to miss out on it. True, it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for someone like me who loves a good R-rated comedy, it's definitely worth going to. In a way, it plays out in the way that made Knocked Up and Wedding Crashers work so well: the outrageous and often crude comedic material overpowers to make a great comedy, but it also has those great tender moments that balance out the film and really carry the story.