Switch

Plot synopsis:
A promiscuous and rather misogynistic man, Steve (Perry King) is murdered by one of his three ex-lovers, and after death, the powers that be cannot decide whether to send him to heaven or to hell—his life is full of good deeds, but he's "been a shit" to women, and that behavior is keeping him from going to heaven.
The powers that be decide to give him a test; he is reincarnated and given a limited amount of time to have at least one woman like him. To make the test more difficult, he is reincarnated as a beautiful woman (Ellen Barkin), he calls himself Amanda as a joke. After the change, Amanda/Steve encounters other people, and rankles at being treated the way he treated women. Steve's friend Walter, and lesbian perfume magnate Sheila both become attracted to Amanda, but Amanda rebuffs Sheila's advances, despite knowing that she is giving up an opportunity for a woman to love her, even though he had sex exclusively with women, as Steve, in the past.
Later, Amanda and Walter get drunk together and he has sex with her while she is passed out. In the morning, Amanda has no memory of the sex and accuses Walter of raping her. Walter acts surprised and insists that Amanda was an enthusiastic participant. Steve realizes the sort of man that he used to be and the sort of man that Walter is. Amanda rejects Walter, but she learns shortly thereafter that she has become pregnant from the encounter. At the childbirth, the baby girl gazes at her mother with love, and Amanda dies, having earned [his] place in heaven.

Tags: murder

Review:
Awful screen play???
I don't understand what the first reviewer was talking about, this is a killer thriller that moves like lightning, once you get past the (very good) setup.
Is there a deep mystery to be resolved that's real interesting?
Not particularly, but I believe Hitchcock had a term for that, the "mcguffin", the thing the crooks want but the audience doesn't care.
This movie is about nonstop action, and it's very well done, one of the best foot chases I've ever seen, with amazing camera work.
For them to have accomplished that in 35 days with two cameramen, it's just .
astounding.
By all means check it out..
Too good to be true?.
The premise itself is anything but new, so you won't (or shouldn't) be too surprised when the story kicks in.
Of course if you don't shut off your brain (as the main character apparently did here), you will have some issues with some of the decisions she makes.
Or rather doesn't make, which is more than unfortunate.
But if you don't really care about the logic, this will be a tension filled thriller.The lead performance is good (again not accounting for internal logic) and it Cantona sort of plays a Tommy Lee Jones inspired character.
But softer if you can believe that (I know).
A nice little french thriller that is decent enough to watch then.
Superb Nerve Wrecking Thriller..
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!.
Good recreational french/belgian thriller,....
I have watched this movie, almost accidentally on TV, while switching channels, and stay up to the end...
and apart for some gross incoherences in the scenario (as described in some former reviews), some facts are too unbelievable.
I was however really impressed by the way the action was shown on the screen....
The two cameras filming is particularly well adapted for the running chases....
which are definitely worth to see, showing an impressing dexterity of the filming team as well as the cutting team.
You feel well the dispair of the running girl and the perseverance of the pursuing cop, at some moment you could think she will resign but she goes on...
Some stair chase viewpoints are very unusual, and fun to see, like slipping on a ramp, but very well rendered...
Cantona is a credible police detective, I have liked his pugnacity, and the distress of the victim is well perceived too.
This will provide me incentive to investigate deeper the posterious work of this promising director and cinematographer....
Well acted and directed...
just very, very silly.
Poor old Eric Cantona!
Apparently lots of potential buyers have been put off this DVD because of the cover, but let me tell you this, Cantona actually puts in a nicely understated performance.
He's not the problem in this film though.
It's the utterly ludicrous script that spoils what could otherwise have been an excellent action thriller.
On the plus points, the lead actress puts in a superb effort (although the film never explains why a struggling artist has the skills of a CIA agent), and most of the cast are good actors.
There are also some very good action scenes, and a memorable foot chase through the suburbs of Paris.Apart from an excellent start, and an intriguing premise, the film quickly descends into a brainless chase movie, with some truly ridiculous scenes (the mother with the shotgun being one of the most stupid), and any number of coincidences unexplained.
Worse than all that, though, is the motive of the killer, which is completely incredible.
The ending will leave you scratching your head.
I have no problem with the suspension of disbelief, but there has to be some credibility, otherwise you end up laughing, like I did.
It's a real shame, because the film is well directed, there is an excellent cast, included the much maligned Cantona, and with a credible script and screenplay, it could have (and should have) been a rock solid thriller.
It is simply too far fetched for my tastes..
Promising Premise but with an Awful Screenplay.
In Montreal, the unemployed fashion designer Sophie Malaterre (Karine Vanasse) is summoned by Claire Maras (Maxim Roy) to show her work to her boss.
When Sophie arrives in the company, Clare apologizes and tells that her boss is on vacation and will return only two months later.Clare invites Sophie to have lunch with her and tells Sophie about the website switch.com, where it is possible to switch houses with a stranger for vacation.
Sophie seeks an apartment in Paris nearby the Eiffel Tower that belongs to Bénédicte Serteaux (Karina Testa) and they change apartments.Sophie arrives in Paris on Saturday morning and has a dream day riding a bicycle through the touristic area.
However, on the next morning, policemen break in the apartment and arrest Sophie while she is having a bath.
Detective Damien Forgeat (Eric Cantona) interrogates Sophie believing that she is Bénédicte and she learns that a beheaded body was found in her room.
Further, all the evidences of her life has been deleted and she can not prove that she is Sophie.
"Switch" is a thriller with a promising premise but with an awful screenplay.
The story has a great beginning until the scene when the police arrest Sophie.
From this moment on, the story is a sequence of ridiculous and unreasonable scenes.First, how difficult would be to prove the true identity in the present days?
I do not know French laws, but where is the lawyer to defend Sophie?
Sophie's reaction escaping from Forgeat is absurd for an innocent woman in a foreign country.
Why didn't she call her mother from the police station when she was arrested?
What about sending her mother to her house in Montreal without telling her who Bénédicte is?
What about her mother taking a shotgun from the trunk of her car in a Rambo style?
How could the Iranian / Pakistanis guy foresee that Sophie would seat in that bench in the park?
The motive claimed by Bénédicte Serteaux to kill her half-brother and destroy Sophie's life is awful and the abrupt conclusion is another terrible moment.
In the end, the best that "Switch" can offer is the view of the Eiffel Tower with lights and the nice breasts of the lead actress.
My vote is three.Title (Brazil): "Identidade Trocada" ("Switched Identity").
Deadly switch.
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..
Not such odd behaviour for an extreme scenario.
One could easily criticise much about Sophie's behaviour but I think one needs to remember this was an extreme situation to find yourself in - a headless corpse in your accommodation and accused of murder.
You can't quite believe it's happening.One thing after another - the fake passport, no flight details for you, no website etc - makes you look guiltyLogical behaviour goes out the window and escaping the police in fear of going to the "madhouse" is understandable.
She does explain this in the movie.What's wrong with a little escapism?
I can't quite believe the villain would go to all that bother when she could have killed her and be done with it.
But she was a bit loopy after all.
We have experts for that sort of thing.
A great thriller, but you must suspend disbelief.
Of course the film begins with a long set-up, and the lead actress smiling for about 10 minutes to really emphasise how pleased she is to be arriving in Paris.
No non-Canadian actress would ever do that IMO.
Anyway, the catastrophe is bad when it occurs: the horrid sight of French cops in raiding outfits, led by ---- yes, Eric Cantona.
I saw him play for Manchester at Chelsea football ground and the Chelsea audience hated and baited him.
But playing a detective, a bit dumb at first, but finally quite sharp, he is absolutely excellent.
I certainly hope we see him more.
The same goes for Karine Vanasse, who has lovely breasts and doesn't mind displaying them.
She also is a great screamer.
Two big talents for one small Quebecois lady.
The movie turns into a complicated genetic mystery and the wicked killer is another gorgeous blonde.
She is shot stone dead by Eric at the end.
Very satisfying, as Karine, whose legs have been horribly broken, gasps: "I didn't do it".
Definitely to be watched..
Not always believable, but well made thriller.
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.
Switch (to coffee that suspends the logic portion of your brain).
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!.
Very disappointing.
It's one of those films which leave you with a feeling of having just wasted your time for nothing, like a one night stand with a selfish lover.
On paper the plot seems exciting, but it just doesn't make sense, nobody is as stupid as the main character.
And the scene with the mother!?
"There's a dangerous killer in that house, mum, could you go check it out?" - "sure, I'll just bring my weapon.
Now I'll walk in and handle the killer my self, and then I can call the police afterwards" - "mum?
Mum!?
(Sounds of mum being killed) oh my God, what happens to my mum?
Well, I'll just go for a cup of coffee now..." Not that it needed to be all realistic but this is to far out to be worth spending time on