Last Wednesday night Allison and I enjoyed a movie night. We had completely cleared out our entire DVR of all the dark blue titles. We still had some light blue ones and only Eva and I are big time dedicated to those. So, with nothing new on TV and nothing on the DVR we were ready for an actual movie. I ran out to Stop and Shop and picked up the Switch from RedBox. That was after I reserved it using the RedBox app on my iPad.

Off the bat I am a fan of Jason Bateman, been one ever since his Silver Spoon days. The movie was not a gross out comedy either which was another good point as well. The movie had heart and I enjoyed it. Allison also enjoyed it.

The Switch follows the lives of Wally (Jason Bateman) and Kassie (Jennifer Aniston), best friends in their late 30s, early 40s. Wally is a neurotic man boy, he’s a trader on Wall Street and has been Kassie’s best friend ever since she put him in the “Friend Zone”. Kassie is a free spirit how has decided that she is getting pregnant. She’s going to find a donor on Craig’s List (Worst Idea Ever) and have a child. Kassie wants to make sure that she knows the donor in case the child ever wants to know about his father (spoiler: she has a boy).

Wally is put out because he’s in love with Kassie and resents being in the “Friend Zone” (as should any red blooded single man and his hot female best friend). Maybe this movie resonated too highly with me and my Pre-Allison life. I had my own condo in the “friend Zone”. I really felt for Wally and could see where he was coming from. Kassie and Wally take a break (Friends throwback). They catch back up when Wally receives an invite to Kassie’s “Pregnancy Party”. At this party Wally meets Roland, the donor. Roland seems like a great guy, stable, family man with a wonderful wife.

Here’s where the switch happens in The Switch. Wally gets flat out drunk and also is given some herbal relaxation pills from Kassie’s thorny friend Debbie (Juliette Lewis). Wally is feeling no pain when he goes into the “other bathroom” of Kassie’s place and he comes face to face with “The Sample” from Roland. Wally is already not happy with what is going on and he’s drunk, so as he plays at watching the sample down the drain he is interrupted and accidentally drops the sample down the drain.

At this point if this were a gross out comedy we’d get some crazy over the top masturbatory scene where Wally would have his pants around his ankles and one foot holding the door closed. Instead it is handled much funnier and respectfully and with humorous callbacks later in the movie. Wally blacks out later after this and he has no memory of what he did. Kassie has a baby boy and moves away. She and Wally stay friendly and then lose touch. Seven years later she returns with her son Sebastian.

Wally’s relationship with Sebastian is touching. You see a guy recognizing his own neuroses and their ridiculousness and growing up right before you. He steps outside his own head in order to let this kid into his life and it was believable and tender. You see a guy thrust into fatherhood and stepping right up to the plate. I’m not going to give more of the movie away but let’s say that it is fairly predictable but also entertaining movie. It is not at all fast paced but rather thoughtful. You get character development and a decent story. It is interesting that Wally was blunt about nearly everything that he was unable to tell Kassie how he felt.

Look for a decent supporting role from Jeff Goldblum. It is a movie I could also recommend for my parents to watch.

Watching The Switch I thought more about being a dad and how families can be so different but connected with love. Not only did Allison and I watch The Switch but we also went on a shopping trip to Walmart and picked up some Elmer’s Glue and other craft supplies in order to create a family tree with Eva.

To my mind Elmer’s has always been the glue people, that distinctive shape of the bottle, the smell of the glue and how you could put it on your fingertips to make fingerprints. Well, when I went to Walmart I was surprised to see all the products that are in the Elmer’s family. We had glue at home so we picked up a few other Elmer’s products instead.

We made the family tree this past Sunday afternoon and had a nice time doing it. I documented that whole experience in this Whrrl story.

Disclosure: *This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are 100% mine.