Reviewed by: Joseph Yates
CONTRIBUTOR
inseparable best friends (male)
irresponsible adult man-child
drunkenness in the Bible
envy / jealousy
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
Featuring: | Ryan Reynolds … Mitch Olivia Wilde … Sabrina Jason Bateman … Dave Leslie Mann … Jamie Alan Arkin … Mitch’s Dad Mircea Monroe … Tatiana See all » |
Director: | David Dobkin—“Wedding Crashers,” “Fred Claus,” “Shanghai Knights” |
Producer: | Original Film Relativity Media Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr … executive producer See all » |
Distributor: | Universal Pictures |
“Who says men can’t change?”
It isn’t often that a comedy with substance comes around. Too bad that when it does, a boatload of raunchy content comes with it. Dave and Mitch are two buddies with very different lives—Dave is a very successful lawyer, married with children, and has always excelled at everything. Mitch, on the other hand, is a high school dropout who sleeps with every woman he can and is attempting to act in pornographic films. One day, after they spend some time together, they end up urinating in a park fountain. They wish for each others’ lives, and all is not as it seems…
This film is an R-rated comedy that well earns its rating. Characters use the f-word too many times to count, along with a--, sh-t, d-mn, g-dd-mn, and p-ssy. There are multiple shots of topless females and one shot of a female’s rear. Many characters also have vivid sex talks, or mention sex organs. Although the movie makes you think twice that there will be a sex scene; there is not. Violence is very mild, limited to Dave’s angry wife slapping both Dave and Mitch multiple times.
Most comedies today are full of shock value laughs, with no substance or heart behind them. Even though “The Change Up” has much language and adult content, it manages to provoke both laughter and heart, sometimes at the same time. While the friends spend time in each other’s bodies, each learns a good deal about the other’s life. As the old adage says
“You can’t really understand another person’s experience till you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”
This realization each has about how good the other’s life is, or the potential they have, helps them to be content with what they have. The apostle Paul said
“[F]or I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. —Philippians 4:11, NLT.
If we can learn to be content, then life will go much smoother.
Violence: Mild / Profanity: Extreme / Sex/Nudity: Extreme
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