One of the worst things a movie can do is name-drop titles of other movies and then never come close to capturing a single fragment of what those titles had to offer. Family Switch falls into that trap and it’s honestly a holiday misfire that should instantly be buried. 

 

McG doesn’t have the strongest reputation when it comes to his filmmaking - yes his Terminator film is surprisingly good, his The Babysitter horror had a nice charm to it and he made a fun Charlie’s Angels movie twenty years ago, but this swerve into holiday comedies just isn’t in his bag. The decision to make this a Christmas movie is an odd one,  when the time of the season doesn’t impact the story whatsoever and felt almost forced in as a measure to make it come out around the holiday. 

 

Body switch movies can be clever, if handled properly and several of the titles mentioned near the jump of the film do just that. Family Switch has no clue how to successfully accomplish any of it - relying on pee and fart jokes instead of genuine heart. Based on a 2010 children’s book, “Bedtime for Mommy” the script to some degree has to capture something from the book to receive that credit, but it’s hard to believe something as annoying as this could've been translated from a children’s book. 

 

Also it’s worth noting the substantial waste of comedic talents Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms, who unfortunately do a horrific job of portraying their personality switched children. Emma Myers and Brady Noon offer admirable performances in comparison and hone in on the characteristics that make these characters something distinct unlike the adult representatives. It also doesn’t help anything with the film to have an awkward B-Plot revolving around the switched bodies of a dog and a baby and the dreadful CGI that comes with it (Son of the Mask level of atrocity). 

 

In an effort to make you cling to the story, the aforementioned callback to titles of similar themes ultimately punished the film - leaning on the expectations of it living up to any single one of the named. It’s a film that lacks heart, which is especially worrisome since it’s a Christmas feature with very little Christmas featured. Family Switch is as bland as the title itself, nothing original happens, the film struggles to conjure anything consequential and in the end is a waste of breath in a winter full of other holiday possibilities. Our advice - skip it and unwrap another film this holiday season.