When I chose Family Switch (2023), I did not realize it was going to be a Christmas movie.  Hence, when I get to that time of the year there will be one less movie to watch.  This might not sound like a big deal, yet last year I felt like I was scraping the bottom of the seasonally appropriate cinema barrel.  Regardless, when it comes to picking films, I try to look at them in terms of how I can apply my Catholic perspective based on brief summaries and/or trailers.  In other words, I go into them with preconceived notions, though I feel I am careful to be open to wherever the rest of the plot, and the Holy Spirit, take me.  Sure, the swapping bodies bit has been done a few times, and this one is self-aware enough to reference many of them in one scene.  It is a cute moment, but it does not take away from its derivativeness.  What concerns me as a Catholic film reviewer in a motion picture like this is the lessons the main characters take away from their “freaky” experience, and yes, there is an allusion for you.  It is a specific set of circumstances, albeit one that has been repeated, but the repetition is because they have broad implications that connect with Faith.  Hopefully you will see them as I describe it to you.

Speaking of Christmas, every year the Walkers do a Yuletide video involving costumes, dancing, and singing, but only mom and dad, respectively Jess (Jennifer Garner) and Bill Walker (Ed Helms), are into it at the beginning of Family Switch.  Their children, the athletically gifted CC (Emma Myers) and the academically gifted Wyatt (Brady Noon), are too wrapped up in their own lives in the usual fashion you expect from silver screen families.  Jess calls a family meeting to address the offsprings’ apathy, and this is when we learn that in spite of all their various plans, she is requesting that they all show up for Wyatt’s big presentation at Los Angeles’ famous Griffith Observatory where they are observing a rare alignment of the planets the following evening.  We go on to witness their day of exposition to set up all their characters.  Bill is looking forward to a gig with his band that could catapult them to stardom; CC has a soccer match with a scout from the national team coming to watch her play; Jess is about to give a presentation at the architecture firm she works for that she expects will make her a partner; and Wyatt has an interview with Yale University for early admission into college.  As they walk around the observatory, CC argues with Jess about mom’s reticence to allow her daughter to go away to pursue her sports dreams, while Bill tells Wyatt that the young man is not living his life to the fullest.  As they stand by the telescope, they each wish that they could switch places with each other.  Then they ask Angelica (Rita Moreno), the gypsy fortune teller they passed on the way in, to take their photo.  Next, a sudden gust of gravity seems to come over Jess, and she contrives to break the telescope in front of which they have been standing.  I suppose the flash of light from space they just experienced might have contributed to their clumsiness.  Anyway, they go home and the next morning they wake up in each other’s bodies.  For clarity’s sake, mother and daughter, and father and son, have swapped, though I will continue to refer to them by their regular names.  Once they have endured their panic time when they realize what has happened, they try to carry on with each other’s lives as normally as possible.  I am not going to go into detail with any of these scenarios.  Just reread the list of events I gave you a moment ago and imagine none of them going well. Furthermore, they are told that the telescope, which they believe to be what they need to return to normal, will not be fixed for at least a week.  Bill steps in at this point, telling the workers that if they work a little extra, he will make it worth their while.  At the same time, Wyatt asks a friend for a certain lens they need in order to complete the repairs.  The piece of glass is the real stumbling block, which means that maintenance needs one more day to finish.  With this extra time, Bill and Jess go to a party to which they have been invited, albeit in their children’s guises.  Mainly, this is a result of Ariana (Vanessa Carrasco) having a crush on Wyatt and wanting to spend more time with him.  Meanwhile, CC and Wyatt are stuck at home with Jess’ dinner club, trying to be adults.  At the soiree, Bill and Jess have a great time and realize they should do this sort of thing more often.  On the subsequent day, each of the four main characters get an insight into one another that shows how much unspoken appreciation there is among them.  With this newfound togetherness, they help Bill’s band give a great performance.  As the show ends, they get the new piece of glass needed for the telescope and make a mad dash to the observatory before the alignment ends.  However, with everything back in place and them wishing to get back their own bodies, nothing seems to happen.  Because Angelica, who also happens to drive for Lift, is on hand, she reminds them about what really needed to happen: that they mend what is broken.  Puzzled, but ready to go home, they all fall asleep on the couch.  When they awaken, everything is normal once again.  Though Wyatt learns he had been rejected by Yale, he does have his first kiss with Ariana.  Finally, the representative from the United States women’s soccer team comes to let CC know she has been invited to the team.

Forgive me for any lack of real enthusiasm for Family Switch.  I seek apology because I left out a few things, like how the Walkers’ toddler, Miles (Theodore Sykes), traded places with the family dog.  Bits like that are added for a little extra comedic flavor.  What is decidedly not funny is when CC and Wyatt, again in their parents’ bodies, are forced to kiss one another.  It gets worse when Ariana, thinking Bill is Wyatt, attempts to kiss someone who is fifty.  Luckily, Bill blocks the smooch with a Cheez-It box.  Thank God for snacks, I suppose.  We should also be thankful for being the unique creation God made each of us to be.  Movies like this one are a reaction to the way many of us wish for a different life, particularly when we experience struggle.  It also does not have to be a swap with our parents, which seems to be the preferred body trade method for these plots.  It could be wanting to be somebody famous are richer, or both, or maybe thinking that we had been born at the wrong time.  To a degree, there is nothing wrong with such fantasies.  As with anything in our lives, it is all in how we handle them.  What is helpful to remember is that God made us who we are, and put us on the planet at this specific time, for a reason.  Daydreams such as I have described, or what we see in today’s movie, can be detrimental to us learning more about the person God created us to be.  It is telling God that I am not satisfied with what He gives us, and that we know better what we need.  This applies to the children and parents in the movie.  Instead of making the best of what they have, they believe things will be easier if they could be different.  Rather than showing their gratefulness and love for what they have, they feel they need to make the other understand their point of view.  What they wish for is impossible, of course, but it does not stop our imaginations.  What their experience does is demonstrate that each family member knows them better than they think.  Luckily, we have a loving God who does that for us.  The more we try to see others, even our relatives, through His eyes, the closer we can get to what we see in the movie.

Of course, as mentioned a moment ago, none of what you see in Family Switch is possible.  Actually, nothing is impossible for God, though I have yet to hear of Him doing anything like this for anyone.  He could make it happen, but the real miracle would be growing closer to him and trying to do the kinds of things I mentioned at the end of the last paragraph.  That would probably be a better use of your time than watching this movie.