Date and Switch is a surprising film. It is a simple, sweet, caring tale about coming of age - and coming out of the closet. It tries to go far from the usual stereotypes on both matters, and the result is a pretty good story.
The main and secondary characters are not the usual either. Nicholas Braun, with his baby face, is condemned, at least for now, to high school roles, as it seems (he is amazing in 10 Things I Hate About You). His counterpart, Hunter Cope, is so good and endearing, it is easy to relate to him. Dakota Johnson, also almost on her 30s, doesn't remember the Fifty Shades' Ana, convincing as the (again) unusual high school senior girl - her Em is great actually. By the way, all the characters stay far from the usual cliches, even those who represent those stereotypes. It is a nice surprise, as I've said above. Simple and heartfelt.
One of the guy's parents are so incredibly traditional that it hurts. The father delivers a lot of homophobic jokes, without knowing his son is gay. The mother puts the '50s housewives on shame, until we can see more of her. As I've also stated before, even the cliches present unexpected features. A well told story, with true people on it. At the end, with a big smile on my face, I was glad to reach it on this day.
| Date and Switch. Directed by Chris Nelson. With: Nicholas Braun, Hunter Cope, Dakota Johnson. Writer: Alan Yang. USA, 2014, 91 min., Dolby Digital, Color (Cable TV). |
Watched this last night, and I too enjoyed it. I agree with you, it refrains from relying too much on cliches and that's admirable, especially for that kind of genre. The characters are fun to follow. There's growth, there's fun times, there's laughter and hard times. I love how different Matty is from every gay character ever displayed in this sort of high school coming-of-age story. He's awesome! This film sure brings a smile to one's face, it's a feel-good piece.
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Isn't that so? Glad that you liked it, because I thought about you a lot while I was watching it :)
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