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DVD Release
- Release Date: 2000
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- Cast and crew bios
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- Original theatrical trailer
- Rating:
- Genre: Fantasy
- Movie Type: Fantasy Comedy, Heaven-Can-Wait Fantasies
- Themes: Trading Bodies, Fish Out of Water, Gender-Bending
- Director: Blake Edwards
- Main Cast: Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, JoBeth Williams, Lorraine Bracco, Perry King, Tony Roberts
- Release Year: 1991
- Country: US
- Run Time: 104 minutes
- MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Ellen Barkin stars in this mystical comedy about a detestable male chauvinist temporarily reincarnated into the body of a woman. Steve Brooks (Perry King) foolishly accepts an invite for an evening of debauchery from three former girlfriends, and thinks he's got it made when he shows up to find them waiting for him in a hot tub. Eager to exact revenge on the scoundrel, the women proceed to drown him, and Steve is cast into a purgatory in which two unseen voices are deciding whether to send him to heaven or hell. Steve is given one chance to save himself from damnation -- if he can find a woman alive who actually liked him. To complicate his task and teach him a lesson, Steve is reincarnated as a sexy woman (Barkin), just the type who would have been the target of his cheesy advances. Sloppily adjusting to his new body, Steve (now Barkin) tells people he is the sister of the missing Steve Brooks, and begins working at his old advertising agency as a means toward completing his arduous task. As Steve's sister, he also enlists the help of his best friend, Walter (Jimmy Smits), despite the complication that Walter is noticeably attracted to the woman he has become. Steve's homophobia -- and several of his other hateful traits -- are put to the test. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie GuideReview
Ellen Barkin was born to play a foul-mouthed lady killer whom everyone hates. Or, at least, that's the impression one gets from Blake Edwards' Switch, in which Barkin uncannily captures the swaggering insensitivity of a handsome jerk, making for a succession of funny scenes that keeps the film moving. She looks like she puts on her makeup with a trowel and brushes her hair with a rake -- appropriate for a reincarnated man who never paid attention to women's needs, so he should have no hope of knowing how to act like one. Barkin is raw, crass, and funny. Edwards' last successful comedy to date bears his usual screwball trademarks, and it is typically unsentimental until a pat ending that lets the former Steve Brooks off the hook too easily, and in too contrived a manner. Until right at the end, he doesn't markedly improve his behavior, even though he is purportedly learning lessons while seeing through the eyes of his former prey. His treatment of Lorraine Bracco's lesbian character is especially harsh and unresolved, such that it goes beyond mere characterization and hints at a deeper meanness embedded into the film. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie GuideCast
- Ellen Barkin - Amanda Brooks
- Jimmy Smits - Walter Stone
- JoBeth Williams - Margo Brofman
- Lorraine Bracco - Sheila Faxton
- Perry King - Steve Brooks
- Tony Roberts - Arnold Friedkin
Lysette Anthony - Liz; Bruce Payne - Devil; Victoria Mahoney - Felicia; Basil Hoffman - Higgins; Catherine Keener - Steve's Secretary; Kevin Kilner - Dan Jones; Rick Aiello - Wiseguy at Duke's; Helena Apothaker - Gay Club Waitress; Michael Badalucco - Hard Hat; Greg Barnett - Thug at Duke's; Ross Brittain - Morning DJ; Jim J. Bullock - The Psychic; Dena Burton - Party Guest; Diana Chesney - Mrs. Wetherspoon; Patricia Clipper - Girl in Elevator; Robert Clotworthy - Bailiff; Linda Dona - Gay Club Patron; Robert Elias - Photographer; Lou Eppolito - Al the Guard; Joe Flood - Mac the Guard; Yvette Freeman - Mae the Maid; David Gale - Doctor; Linda Gary - God; Tony Genaro - Mental Patient; Teri Gold - F&B Model; Jay R. Goldenberg - Sardi's Maitre d'; James Harper - Lieutenant Laster; Ben Hartigan - Minister; Jessie Jones - Arnold's Secretary; John La Fayette - Sgt. Phillips; Tracy Lambert - Store Model; Mindy Lawson - F&B Model; Téa Leoni - Dream Girl; Lily Mariye - Nurse; Karen Medak - Saleswoman; Faith Minton - Nancy the Bouncer; Jacquelyn Rene Moen - Girl at City Grille; Virginia Morris - Assistant District Attorney; Marti Muller - Woman Client; Jennie Nauman - Party Guest; Kimberly Oja - F&B Model; Molly Okuneff - Little Girl; Dennis Paladino - Duke; F. William Parker - Barber; Richard Provost - God; Annette Quinn - Party Guest; Michelle Reese - Party Guest; Barbara Schillaci - Mental Patient; William Shockley - Party Guest; Alana Silvani - Girl at City Grille; Elena Statheros - Girl at Aiko's; Savant Tanney - Judge Harcrow; Robert Towers - Mental Patient; Emma Walton - Fur Protestor; David Wohl - Attorney Caldwell; Michelle Wong - Photo Assistant; Rebecca Wood - Gay Club Patron; Fred Lerner - Thug at Duke's; Lauren Lloyd; Taunie Vrenon - Store Model; Jim Lovelett - Jogger
