{"id":297356,"date":"2024-04-07T13:10:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T18:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/the-best-body-swap-movies-to-amuse-audiences"},"modified":"2024-04-07T13:10:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T18:10:51","slug":"the-best-body-swap-movies-to-amuse-audiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/the-best-body-swap-movies-to-amuse-audiences","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest Physique-Swap Films to Amuse Audiences"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

The underwhelming Netflix comedy Family Switch<\/em> (\u201cA dad joke of a movie,\u201d according to critic Nell Minow) reminds us of two things. First, the appeal of body-swap movies for filmmakers remains undimmed even after a century or so of service and a multitude of examples in every category imaginable.<\/p>\n

And second, as evidenced below, many body-swap movies knock Family Switch<\/em> into the proverbial cocked hat.<\/p>\n

The genre has a surprising number of classic hits fans love, as well as some underrated gems you forgot about. <\/p>\n

1. Big (1988)<\/h2>\n
\"Tom
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a star-making turn, Tom Hanks plays Josh Baskin, a 12-year-old kid who wakes one morning to find he\u2019s metamorphized into an adult. Initially alarmed by his Kafka-lite transformation, Josh quickly turns it to his advantage, employing his authentic childlike naivety to land a job as a top-level toy tester.<\/p>\n

It doesn’t take long for the challenges of adulthood \u2013 work, relationships, ear hair etc. \u2013 begin to bear down, persuading Josh that a kid\u2019s life has its attractions after all (even if it means he can\u2019t sleep with grown-up girlfriend Elizabeth Perkins anymore).<\/p>\n

2. Get Out (2017)<\/h2>\n
\"Get
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not a body-swap movie in the conventional sense \u2013 as if there\u2019s anything conventional about Jordan Peele\u2019s game-changing psychological horror \u2013 this one offers something far more sinister: extreme cultural appropriation, vis a vis elderly white folk using hypnotherapy\/brain surgery to usurp the bodies of young Blacks.<\/p>\n

3. Being John Malkovich (1999)<\/h2>\n
\"John
Image Credit: USA Films.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If the title of writer Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze debut collaboration shouts \u201cself-serious biopic,\u201d the premise \u2013 sad-sack puppeteer John Cusack discovers a gateway into John Malkovich\u2019s head, allowing anyone to experience the world from the award-winning actor\u2019s perspective for fifteen minutes \u2013 positively screams \u201cHey, everyone, look how wacky we can be!\u201d<\/p>\n

The reality brilliantly sustains comedy-drama, employing its surreal concept as less showy gimmick and more a means to explore weighty issues of love and identity. Naturally, Malkovich plays himself, memorably pushing the meta envelope at one point to take charge of a scene populated entirely with ersatz versions of himself.<\/p>\n

4. Face\/Off (1997)<\/h2>\n
\"Face\/Off
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thanks to some radical cosmetic surgery, international terrorist Nic Cage switches places with arch nemesis FBI Special Agent John Travolta in this ultra-stylish, neo-noir action thriller from John Woo, the Stanley Kubrick of ultra-stylish, neo-noir action thrillers.<\/p>\n

5. The Fly (1986)<\/h2>\n
\"The
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

King of body horror David Cronenberg outdoes himself with this surprisingly moving tale of an obsessive scientist (Jeff Goldblum) experimenting with teleportation and getting his DNA all mixed up with a fly\u2019s, triggering his gradual mutation into a monstrous human-insect hybrid.<\/p>\n

So, technically, it qualifies as a body-fusion movie rather than a body-swap, but it’s way too good to leave out.<\/p>\n

6. Your Name (2016)<\/h2>\n
\"Your
Image Credit: Toho.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Captivating anime from Makoto Shinkai, starring Ryunosuke Kamiki and Mone Kamishiraishi as two high-school students, one living in Tokyo, the other in the faraway region of Gifu Prefecture, who begin inexplicably to inhabit each other\u2019s bodies.<\/p>\n

Inspired by the frequency of natural disasters in Japan and delving into issues of compassion, destiny, and the transcendent power of love, Your Name <\/em>wowed critics and audiences worldwide, becoming the third highest-grossing Japanese film of all time.<\/p>\n

7. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)<\/h2>\n
\"Everything
Image Credit: A24.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the title suggests, a little more goes on in writer-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert\u2019s genre-defying magnum opus than a brief summary can handle.<\/p>\n

But a body-swap element pervades, with Michelle Yeoh ping-ponging between pan-dimensional versions of herself to prevent a malignant superbeing trashing the multiverse.<\/p>\n

8. All of Me (1984)<\/h2>\n
\"All
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When a spiritual transfer ceremony goes haywire, laid-back lawyer Steve Martin gets accidentally possessed by uptight heiress Lily Tomlin in this cracking contemporary screwball from director Carl Reiner. Consummate verbal sparring abounds, likewise matchless rubber-limbed physicality from Martin.<\/p>\n

9. 13 Going on 30 (2004)<\/h2>\n
\"13
Image Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jennifer Garner turns on the charm as a giggly adolescent ensconced in the body of a sophisticated young woman, with all the comedy-of-manners merriment that allows. Childlike but never childish, Garner\u2019s delightful performance elevates proceedings far above the well-worn premise.<\/p>\n

10. Freaky Friday (1976)<\/h2>\n
\"Freaky
Image Credit: Walt Disney Productions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A top-drawer teen comedy, based on the 1972 novel by Mary Rogers.<\/p>\n

Mother and daughter Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris heal their strained relationship by magically switching bodies for a day, learning valuable lessons about communication, empathy and water-skiing along the way. An only slightly less top-drawer remake followed in 2003, with Lindsey Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis in the leads.<\/p>\n

11. Freaky (2020)<\/h2>\n
\"Freaky
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Low-budget, high-quality slasher-comedy inspired by the above with Vince Vaughan as a mythic serial killer switching bodies with high-school cheerleader Kathryn Newton, leaving him to pursue his gruesome hobby incognito and her with some explaining to do.<\/p>\n

12. Heaven Can Wait (1978)<\/h2>\n
\"Heaven
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a successful retread of 1941\u2019s Here Comes Mr. Jordan<\/em>, Warren Beatty stars as an NFL quarterback sent prematurely to the big locker room in the sky and brought back to earth by his errant guardian angel in the body of a recently murdered millionaire.<\/p>\n

13. Runaway Brain (1995)<\/h2>\n
\"Runaway
Image Credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A bizarre Disney short<\/a> in which Mickey, short of dough to buy Minnie an anniversary present, volunteers for a brain-swap op with a massive shambling monster.<\/p>\n

14. The Skeleton Key (2005)<\/h2>\n
\"The
Image Credit: Universal Pictures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This underrated Southern Gothic horror stars Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, and Peter Sarsgaard in a plot generously laced with hoodoo ritual and endowed with a diabolical body-swap plot that owes nothing whatsoever to family-friendly fare of the Freaky Friday<\/em> ilk.<\/p>\n

15. 17 Again (2009)<\/h2>\n
\"17
Image Credit: Chuck Zlotnick\/New Line Productions, Inc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Feeling the pinch of middle age, Mike O\u2019Donnell (Matthew Perry) gets to relive his teens in the body of his younger self (Zac Effron, flexing impressive comedy chops). Hilarity of the toe-curling variety ensues with Mike enrolling in high school alongside his own teenage daughter.<\/p>\n

16. Vice Versa (1988)<\/h2>\n
\"Vice
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The great-grandaddy\/mommy of all body-swap yarns (not counting Frankenstein<\/em> author Mary Shelley\u2019s 1870 short story \u201cTransformation\u201d of course), Vice Versa<\/em> dates to an 1882 novel by English author F. Anstey in which a father and son switch identities. 1916 saw the first film adaptation, with remakes appearing in 1948 and 1981.<\/p>\n

The well-received 1988 version stars Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage as the generational switchees. Savage acquits himself well in the dad role, but Reinhold flounders. “He plays an 11-year-old boy less like an 11-year-old boy,” noted The Guardian<\/em>‘s Stuart Heritage, “and more like an adult who has sustained concussive trauma to his skull.”<\/p>\n

17. Nine Lives (2016)<\/h2>\n
\"Nine
Image Credit: EuropaCorp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Businessman Kevin Spacey radically reassesses his work-life balance after transmogrifying into his teen daughter\u2019s pet cat, Mr. Fuzzypants.<\/p>\n

18. The Green-Eyed Elephant (1960)<\/h2>\n
\"The
Image Credit: Troma Entertainment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A pair of aspiring actresses discover an ancient Aztec effigy that allows them to exchange bodies at will. Denmark\u2019s entry into the body-swap fray wins no prizes for originality but does reflect the concept\u2019s international reach.<\/p>\n

It holds a certain interest for being written, produced, and directed by semi-legendary Hollywood figure Sidney W. Pink, dubbed the father of 3D cinema for his groundbreaking 1952 movie Bwana Devil.<\/em><\/p>\n

19. The Mephisto Waltz (1971)<\/h2>\n
\"The
Image Credit: 20th Century-Fox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This creepy supernatural thriller stars Alan Alda as a dying devil-worshiper who implants his soul into a young concert pianist (Jacqueline Bisset). No great shakes but worth the candle for the great Jerry Goldsmith\u2019s spine-chilling score.<\/p>\n

20. The Hot Chick (2002)<\/h2>\n
\"The
Image Credit: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rob Schneider takes body-swap movies to new levels of adequacy as a small-time crook swapping bodies with bratty teen Rachel McAdams. Yes, Adam Sandler does a cameo. And yes, the Family Switch<\/em>\/cocked hat scenario holds true, believe it or not.<\/p>\n

The post The Best Body-Swap Movies to Amuse Audiences<\/a> first appeared on Wealth of Geeks<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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The underwhelming Netflix comedy Family Switch (\u201cA dad joke of a movie,\u201d according to critic Nell Minow) reminds us of two things. First, the appeal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-297356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297356\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}