Holiday Switch (2012)

You won't be disappointed!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

In my quest to watch every Christmas movie ever made, this was randomly next. Made-for-Lifetime television, it really wasn't that great. Woman switches her hectic, worrisome life with another so that she can realize just how great she had it. You don't need millions of dollars, furs, closetful of shoes and dresses, and a Mercedes when you don't have love. La di frickin' da. How many times has this story been done? On the positive -- Nicole Eggert! (Charles In Charge, Baywatch.) I'd watch anything with her! And it was kind of Christmasy compared to many Made-for-TV Christmas movies. Stupid title, should have at least called it Christmas Switch and it's never explained why she got switched. Eh, whatever. Not recommended.5.2 / 10--A Kat Pirate Screener

It's not bad. And the message is sincere. So it's a really nice Xmas tale. However, some of you may have seen a movie with Nicolas Cage called "The Family Man", in it, Cage had a choice too...whether or not to drop a life of family for a cold lifestyle of unlimited riches and hedonistic pleasures. This is slightly different in that Eggert's Paula is a ball-buster, shallow materialistic witch. This was BEFORE she goes on this journey. To me, it may be too big of a leap of faith to think that her life would've changed all that much, and the "lesson" learned would cause her to bow.Both stories answer the question. Only one seems to have been bolted in ambiguity. And therefore, more honest.What I enjoyed a lot is the performances. Paula could destroy a man's will to live. And it would take a man as sincere and morally tough to sustain this "abuse". The man in question is Gary (Bret Anthony) who is a loving husband and a devoted father to two girls. He's EXACTLY what Lifetime movies dream of when it comes to ideal men. He's brow-beaten but still remains so optimistic. Challenges his wife to dance (what woman wouldn't want this?). So why in the world would Paula want anyone else?Because the grass is always greener. Strip the riches and see the man...and the filmmaker argues, is your choice. No one is bad in this movie. I like that. Paula seems to be her worst enemy. Even as we start to blame her "dream world" husband we realize it isn't him who developed the toxic relationship...it was Paula...it's always been Paula. So we're left to conclude, Gary is a stronger man than we'd suspected in the beginning.Yes, it's a contrivance. More appreciated during the holiday season. It has a good core with really nice performances. The pre-requisit shopping spree montage is wrangled in. Eggert goes from frumpy Mom with baggy Mom pants to stunning...easily. And it ends the way you want it to.

Alice fell down the rabbit hole and found Wonderland. Lucy stepped through the wardrobe and discovered Narnia.Once we had "Alice Through the Looking Glass." Here we have grown-up Paula (Nicole Eggert) crawling through the clothes dryer (of all places!) into an alternate life of what might have been had she married the "other guy," the rich gallery owner, instead of her handyman husband who has trouble finding steady work.But when Paula learns what her alternate life is really like, and that she had already filed for a divorce from her "other guy," she wants desperately to reclaim her old, her rightful life. Trouble is, when she makes like Dorothy and literally tries clicking her heels to get back, it doesn't work. Neither, seemingly, does anything else...until something does.This same idea of dreaming up an alternate life was used again a year later in "The Mrs. Clause (2008)" (shown here in the United States under the title, "The Christmas Clause,") but much less effectively.

I found this a heartwarming and fun movie to enjoy during the holiday season. Nicole Eggert is wonderful as a frustrated housewife who yearns for the magic only a former high school flame can recapture. Can't we imagine how our lives might have been different had we married the other crush? Nicole gets this opportunity to explore that luxurious life she's always wanted. Yet the question remains: does it bring her happiness? The set design is lush and colorful. Brett Anthony and Bret Le Bourveau are great as the two competing love interests. Also, her daughters are cute but also realistically depicted as girls who just want their mom to be happy this Christmas, freed from the burdens of debt and financial woes. Truly magical and touching, this quirky, often moving film will have you reaching for the Kleenex by the end. It has sparkle and charm that will whisk you away on an enjoyable journey that only comes once a year!