Switch (1991) , All Region

S’watch it
I am sure I have seen Ellen Barkin movies before but now I will actually look out for them because she was very good with her portrayal of a man in a woman’s body. There were a lot of laughs, especially when she’s walking in those heels and she just gives the impression of a blokey bloke stuck in a bad situation and I as the viewer couldn’t really make a distinction of her not being a man, it was a flawless switch of just the bodies. I was impressed to say the least. It actually has a message too which makes me glad to know that certain values existed and were shown through movies back then.

Solid comedy that only squanders a little bit of its potential
A womaniser is murdered by three of his girlfriends and is returned to Earth as a woman.My mum rented this movie back in the early 90s and it’s always stuck with me even though I had only seen it once. Recently I was watching a second series episode of Men Behaving Badly from 1992. There was a scene in a video rental store (which dates the programme far worse than anything else) where they are standing for about a minute beside a bunch of copies of Switch. That not so subtle bit of advertising worked and I decided to get my hands on a copy.The opening was not promising. Full length credits over speeded up footage of clouds screamed out mediocrity. The horrible 80s power ballad was way too much. It would have defeated anyone who wasn’t fully committed to watching it. Also the involvement of the cable channel HBO wasn’t a good sign. Nowadays they make the very best stuff you can find, but back in the early 90s they were not so impressive. I semi-recently saw their TV movie version of Fatherland. It was beyond terrible.Surprisingly the first ten or so minutes are not devoted to showing what a prick the lead character is to women. The film knows we can guess the details for ourselves, and so treats us as intelligent people and doesn’t waste our time going over predictable scene setting stuff. Instead his girlfriends take their revenge immediately. It’s nice, and sadly rare, when a movie just gets to the point.The jokes are pretty standard for what you would expect from a gender swap comedy. Yes, she does fall over in her high heels more than once.It’s fairly tame in tone as it’s a mainstream film dealing with potentially unsettling subject matter. They clearly aimed for a low age certificate from the censors. Which doesn’t affect anything in a negative way. It just means the film tip-toes a bit more than it maybe should around topics such as homosexuality and gender roles. It’s not a gritty drama so it’s not a problem that it avoids or fudges certain things in order to keep everything respectable and nice.The comedy isn’t particularly broad and it deliberately stops being funny towards the end. The plot becomes more straightforwardly dramatic which I thought worked well, and I had no issues with it.The director Blake Edwards is, as far as I’m aware, a bit of an old fashioned, rather stuck in a different era kind of Hollywood film maker. I’m not saying his Pink Panther films aren’t funny, just that they’re slow and bloated in comparison to more modern comedies. I was expecting this film to feel much more dated to the 70s than it was (having said that, it is dated visually to the 80s). The movie felt more modern and current than most comedies of its era. I suppose that’s the up side to tackling risky, awkward subject matter – twenty years later it still has some power while more conformist, safer films start to look quaint and restrained.It’s also maybe worth noting that Edwards might have more artistic interest in the subject matter than just using it as an excuse for a few jokes as he also made the gender confusion film Victor/Victoria (which I’ve not seen).Ellen Barkin is excellent in the lead. She really does convince that she has a man’s mind, instincts, memories and desires in her head. Unfortunately the 80s fashion disasters often make it unclear how well dressed her character is supposed to be.It’s a good, solid comedy. It’s often amusing and has a few fairly big laughs, but it’s not a full on laugh riot. It’s a few notches better than I was reasonably expecting. Although it’s also a few notches worse than it potentially could have been, if it had tackled the subject with a bit more open honesty without fear of making the audience feel uncomfortable. I liked it and I’m glad I watched it again. I would recommend it.

Great fun film
I loved this movie many years ago and always wanted to see it again so managed to get it no Blu-ray the picture and sound is great you’d think it only made.

Hilarious
Bought this dvd as a bit of nostalgia kicked in. I originally saw this when it first aired on tv. It has not lost it’s original charm of the era. And it is super funny also!!

Saw this years ago when first out. Enjoyed it them and enjoy it now. Funny film. Flipside story about a egotistical, sexist man turned into a women and seeing/experiencing how the other sex lives. Highly recommend.

日本では売って無いので海外版買った。普通のプレイヤーは国地域制限あって視聴出来ないが、パソコンのプレイヤー使って鑑賞します。　何度観ても笑えた。いまのLBGxxじゃないが、男が女に転生して、最後に女でも良かったと、なかなか感動。　エレンバーキンの演技に惚れ惚れした。

Good Movie. Closed Captions worked really well.