The Change-Up is the funniest film of 2011 so far. When it comes to laughs, it tops Bridesmaids, but The Change-Up, as a straight comedy, takes the cake.
I am going to save my full review for this Friday, but I’ve been holding on to this red band trailer for some time, waiting for a moment to post it, and with the review embargo lifting on the film today I felt now was as good a time as any.
The film, yes, is a body-switch comedy. You’ve seen a ton of them before and someone has already gone to the trouble to create a mash-up video taking clips from Freaky Friday to Face/Off and mixing them into the trailer for The Change-Up as if to say, “See, you’ve seen this film before.” I’m here to tell you that you haven’t, at least not entirely.
Beyond the been-there plotline, yes, there is also a massive poop joke that opens the film and another featuring Leslie Mann on the toilet. Both have been featured in trailers and as far as I can remember they are the only two poop jokes in the film. You’re saved, they don’t rely on that kind of comedy. Instead, it’s all Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds. Filled with massive amounts of obscene language and offensive behavior, this is what I want from a raunchy comedy.
Films like this often fail to impress because while they are telling you a story you’ve already heard, they give you characters you’ve already seen and jokes where you already know the punchlines. The Change-Up aims to change that and while this red band trailer is attempting to sell that fact, it fails. Some of these lines aren’t in the movie, the joke with the late night girlfriend is spoiled and the story about Leslie Mann’s character’s vibrator is ruined. I tell you all of this because I don’t want you to watch this trailer. Jokes are funniest the first time you hear them and when you hear them in context. This trailer will only lessen their impact.
That said, I still have to include the trailer because that’s the reason for the headline. So if you simply must, give it a click. Otherwise, if you’re a fan of obscene, raunchy comedy loaded with foul language and offensive behavior just check out The Change-Up this weekend. No, it’s not some A+ comedy. Some of the jokes don’t work, it will tread some territory you expect and the ending isn’t perfect, but when it comes to laughs it delivers the goods.
