Switch (2011)

Just perfect...

A Major Disappointment

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The plot of "Switch" is not always believable, in fact there are some huge holes in it if you stop to think about them. Fortunately, the director doesn't give you much time to dwell on such matters, as he keeps the film moving at a frenetic pace, with on-location shooting, kinetic camera-work, a few exciting fights, and a foot chase that is very reminiscent of the one in the cult classic "Point Break" (if not quite as good). The climax, though, is disappointingly rushed. Karine Vanasse is a revelation in "Switch", she throws herself into the role body (and I do mean BODY) and soul, and makes it convincing even when the script is not. Eric Cantona is clearly much better at his new endeavor than most pro-athletes-turned-actors. **1/2 out of 4.

Someone frames our poor little girl from Montreal, and pulls off a tremendous caper by getting her to 'switch' her PQ apartment for a trendy flat in Paris. Paris cops show up and detect a body. Problems begin, including identity theft (ramped up on the Richter scale).A thrill a moment, and excellent hand-held camera work (shot in 35 days by 2 guys with hand-helds, reportedly) during numerous chase scenes. Sadly, our innocent heroine commits several felonies while fleeing and trying to prove her innocence: if O.J. is in jail for life for storming a trophy convention, while armed, just to retrieve his own property, how much time would our PQ girl get if she had her 'on-the-run' misadventure in the good old USA?I mean - Harrison Ford escapes custody in the Fugitive, but he is careful to avoid committing other serious crimes while on the run (he even saves a couple of lives) right? Our heroine has to commit so many serious crimes to get through this thing, I was thinking she might have been better to confess to the murder she was framed for, stay in custody, and try contriving an appeal from behind bars!

I watched this movie sitting on the edge of my seat, completely mesmerized from beginning to end. While I was watching it I kept thinking how impressively put together it was, like an intricate clockwork handled with a masterful touch by an artful master.This girl, Karine Vanasse, is a terrific actress, top drawer, and she's on screen most of the time, with a wide range of emotions perfectly believable and appropriate for the rol, a rol that requires enormous amounts of tense moments for her.As good as her is the police officer (Eric Cantona) but diametrically opposed to her school of acting, since he is totally restrained in his movements but his performance is outstanding.Another reviewer criticized many-many weak points in the script, and I agree with all those findings, but at the same time I wonder: Why criticize almost to a vivisection point a movie that is only sheer entertainment? Even reading any of the Shakespeare plays we can point out thousand implausibilities in them and yet, we take him for granted now.I don't see it that way, this movie is a TEN stars, because it does what it promised: To Entertain, and it would be very difficult to top it at that.Sensational script, sensational camera work (to a dazzling point), sublime editing, perfect actors, even pacing from beginning to end, excellent soundtrack, magnificent director (Frederic Schoendoerffer)... Anything else, El Exigente?And to top it all, Paris, the most beautiful city on this earth of ours!

Frederic Schoendoerffer is really a great director. One of the best in the french crime movie industry, I mean. This story is written by the famous best seller novelist Jean-Christophe Grangé - author of LES RIVIERES POURPRES and some other features. If you are already familiar with his books, you'll guess that this film gives us a serial killer scheme. Vicious, weird, disgusting, nasty, totally f...up with all the juicy details...But it is also a complex topic too hard to explain in details. I did not follow everything in this tale. Sorry. One sequence reminds us POINT BREAK, when Reeves pursuits Swayze through houses, streets and backyards...This topic is really in the line of the new fashion french thriller- inspired by the American one: POUR ELLE, A BOUT PORTANT, LA PROIE...where the lead is suspected to be a criminal and he has to prove his innocence. Nothing unusual. But it is a fast paced flick, well done, with of course a predictable ending.An ending very abrupt too.Eric Cantona, the famous former soccer player, gives here an astonishing performance. So does the lead actress.