David Farnor | On 28, Dec 2023

Director: McG
Cast: Jennifer Garner, Ed Helms, Emma Myers, Brady Moon
Certificate: PG

The body swap comedy gets a Christmas twist in Netflix’s latest big-budget festive offering, to sadly middling effect. Ever since Freaky Friday and Big, the notion of someone finding themselves in another person’s body has been a ripe field for comedies, with everything from 13 Going on 30 to Red Oaks dipping into the genre. More recently, the anime Your Name gave the whole concept a fresh spin to dazzling effect, reminding us of the potential when people wind up growing and learning from sharing someone else’s life experiences.

In 2023, a time when a little more of that ability to walk in someone else’s shoes would help society become a more accepting and loving place, Family Switch arrives with a bow on top and an opportunity to balance the compassionate heart of Christmas with some larger-than-life laughs. Except, well, it doesn’t.

The script by Victoria Strouse and Adam Sztykiel attempts for heartfelt moments of realisation, but never really gets there, partly because the characters aren’t very well drawn to begin with. Bill (Helms) is a slightly immature dad who pines for his childhood dream of becoming a rock star. Jess (Garner) is a hard-working, put-upon mum who is focused on everything being just-so and nailing her big career presentation. Wyatt (Moon) is an insecure bookish teenage boy with a crush he’s too scared to do anything about. And CC (Myers) is a football prodigy who is frustated by her parents.

An encounter with a fortune teller (Rita Moreno) – an unnecessary, dated detail, given the planetary alignment the film uses to justify its body-swap phenonemon – leads them all to wake up in each other’s bodies. But what ensues doesn’t really make sense for any of the characters, whether it’s Bill (in Wyatt’s body) attempting to do an interview for Yale or Jess (in CC’s body) running around a football pitch, not to mention CC (in Jess’s body) farting her way through a meeting. We’re meant to gasp at how badly situations go, but there’s no real stakes to any of it, and no logical repercussions of consequences – the body swap premise mostly highlights the familiar stereotype of the young people being more mature than the adults, without the reversal of that balance leading to something meaningful.

There are a few chuckles in there, mostly thanks to Garner’s impeccable physical comedy and facial expressions – it’s a treat to see her given the opportunity to really let loose. But the enthusiastic cast, and the energetic, family-friendly direction by McG, are wasted on a screenplay that doesn’t follow through on its own idea. Unless you’re talking about the baby and the dog swapping places, which is more alarming than it is funny.

Even with a Back to the Future-esque sequence chucked in for good measure, the result is a disappointing missed opportunity. There are some fun verbal nods early on to all the films mentioned above, but the novelty soon wears off.

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