rsnappy@hydra.unm.edu (Roger Snappy Rubio) (05/31/91)
SWITCH
A film review by Roger Snappy Rubio
Copyright 1991 Roger Snappy Rubio
SWITCH
Starring: Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, Jobeth Williams, Lorraine Bracco
Produced by Tony Adams
Written and Directed by Blake Edwards
An interesting movie. That's the least I could say about SWITCH, a
new comedy from the man who brought us VICTOR/VICTORIA and 10, the one
and only Blake Edwards. Blake Edwards has quite a reputation for
directing the awkward and uncomfortable, and he has done a good job
directing Ellen Barkin in this film. I humbly think that this movie
could do wonders for Barkin, but for Edwards, I don't think it will have
such a profound impact.
SWITCH is the story of womanizer Steve Brooks. Steve has been
rotten to women all his life, treating them as if they were objects to
be played with and enjoyed. Every female he has ever come in contact
with hates his guts. So one night, three of his former girlfriends
decide to throw him a surprise party, which they notify him of. The
surprise, however, is a big one--it's his death.
Now that Steve is stuck in purgatory, God must decide whether or
not he goes to heaven or hell (good move by Edwards making God's voice
both male and female--it satisfies everyone). Since he is on equal
footing on both good and bad deeds, God decides to send him back to
Earth, and challenges him to find just one female that likes him. If
he does, he goes to heaven. If not... well, you know. But the devil
intervenes, saying he has as much a right to Steve as God does, and if
he comes back as a man, it will be too easy for him. So the devil
suggests a rather interesting idea ... he should come back as a woman.
So I've spoiled the first part of the story; I won't spoil the rest
of it. This movie had enormous potential for even more funny scenes
than the ones already in it (don't get me wrong, it has it's fair
share), and it explores several issues about what it's like being a
woman, but it never really follows through on most of them. I think the
problem is that there is so much that can happen to a man in a woman's
body that every possible situation could not fit into one movie. The
ones Edwards does explore are some pretty awkward situations, and he
handles them quite well.
I cannot say enough about Ellen Barkin's performance. She always
had a little touch of stereotypical masculinity in her acting (which
makes me think Edwards wrote this screenplay with her in mind) and it
makes her perfect for this role. She talks like a man, sits like a man,
and even walks like one very convincingly. She does everything I think
a man would do in a woman's body without realizing it, and it provides
for some very funny scenes. Barkin was superb--tremendous--excellent!
The story, however, is a bit rushed. As I said before, there's
only so much that can happen in one movie. One thing happens right
after the other, as though Edwards wanted to get in as much as he can.
The closest movie to this one that Edwards had made previously would
have to be VICTOR/VICTORIA, which dealt with male homosexuality. SWITCH
deals somewhat with female homosexuality, but in a relativistic sort of
way (in one way, it's not homosexuality, because the subject is a man in
a woman's body, but on the other hand, he is a woman through and
through!). And in my opinion the film does not deal with it enough.
Perhaps Edwards should have focused only on what it's like to be a woman
and not have introduced the lesbian aspect. That would have made room
for some more funny situations. Also, although it might be trivial, I
must mention that I found the scenes where any of the characters are
drunk to be unconvincing. They acted as if they had a subtle form of
hiccups. But all in all, they did pretty good.
SWITCH is definitely better than some of Edwards' previous movies
(a la A FINE MESS), but not better than all of them. I believe it is a
worthy candidate for induction into the Blake Edwards Hall of Fame. I
think this film might wind up being compared extensively to TOOTSIE
(with Dustin Hoffman) by the critics (as it is the closest relative as
far as the plot line goes). As far as this comparison is concerned,
SWITCH does not stand on its own. Nevertheless, it is a good movie, and
worthy of at least matinee price at the box office.
THE SNAPMAN
rsnappy@hydra.unm.edu
(Roger Rubio)repnomar@leland.stanford.edu (Janet M. Lafler) (05/31/91)
SWITCH
A film review by Janet M. Lafler
Copyright 1991 Janet M. Lafler
SWTICH is a sexual role-reversal comedy directed by Blake Edwards
and starring Ellen Barkin which has funny and insightful moments, but
also has a great many holes.
The premise is simple: Steve Brooks is an inveterate womanizer
hated by women everywhere. After being killed by three former
girlfriends he lands in Purgatory, where he is told that he is a
borderline case; he has done enough good to be eligible for heaven, but
has behaved so horribly to women that he's also a candidate for hell.
To resolve the difficulty, he's sent back to earth to find one female
who likes him. Thanks to a suggestion from the Devil, he goes back as a
woman.
The bulk of the movie deals with Steve (in his female persona,
Amanda) trying to get by as a woman for long enough to find a woman who
likes him. As Amanda, Barkin turns in a great performance. Tottering
on her high heels, tugging at her unfamiliar female finery, walking,
talking and gesturing in masculine fashion, she performs just broadly
enough to be funny without being ridiculous.
The movie deals with the various possibilities inherent in this
switch with uneven success. Steve's reaction to his female body,
including his persistent habit of acting as if it were someone else's
body, is well-handled, and often quite funny. ("Did you get a look at
my legs?" s/he asks best friend Walter, played by Jimmy Smits.) His
sexual adjustment is also handled well; there is no easy way for him to
slide into either lesbianism or heterosexuality as a woman.
There are problems, though. I found myself wondering whether a man
who had just turned into a woman would dress like that. There's no
reason that Steve/Amanda immediately has to put on four-inch stiletto
heels. Then there's the question of just what's good about Steve
Brooks. Walter mentions that he's done many kind things, but we're
never told what they are, and I find it hard to understand how someone
who's supposedly so good could really be such a jerk to women. All
women. (Either his mother's dead or she hates him too; at any rate,
she's never mentioned.) And there's at least one glaring continuity
error. (Hint: I don't know anyone whose hair could grow eight inches
in five months.)
On a more serious and subtle level, the movie-makers seem to be
assuming that spending a few days or months as a woman can make a man
really understand what it is like to be a woman, a premise I find
unconvincing. (A similar transformation occurs in TOOTSIE.) Only a few
days after the switch, Amanda complains about how an ad doesn't really
reflect women's experience; in fact, once Steve becomes a woman he
pretty quickly begins spouting feminist rhetoric. While I would like to
believe that any man who woke up one day in a woman's body would become
a feminist, there are limits to what makes sense. When Amanda starts
holding forth on date rape, it doesn't ring true. In the end, the
movie's feminist pieties strike me as rather cheap. As a comedy, this
movies succeeds, but when it tries to get serious about the differences
between men's and women's experiences, it's often frustrating and
shallow.
SWITCH is an engaging movie, worth going to see simply for Barkin's
performance. (Supporting performances are competent, but not exciting.)
Pacing falters somewhat in the last third of the movie, but in general
Barkin's energy keeps things moving.
Janet Lafler
--
send mail to: repnomar@leland.stanford.edu
(In answer to your first question, Repnomar is a character in
M.J. Engh's The Wheel of the Winds.)