This is one of the few Aniston film’s this writer has watched more than once, probably due, not only to Jennifer’s charisma, but the presence of Jeff Goldblum and Juliette Lewis in the cast. A silly plot, conventionally structured, but clearly it’s got through to me somehow. 
FILM: The Switch
DIRECTOR: Josh Gordan, Will Speck
YEAR: 2010
CHARACTER NAME & PROFESSION: Kassie Larson, TV Producer
PLOT SUMMARY: Kassie and Wally (Jason Bateman, later seen with Aniston in Horrible Bosses) are best friends who once dated. Kassie wants to have a baby, and being single, decides to use a sperm donor. At her artificial insemination party, Wally gets very drunk and destroys the sperm sample. He switches it for his own ‘sample’ and forgets about it due to his ridiculous hangover. Kassie moves away from NYC to raise her son. Seven years later, she moves back to the city and reconnects with Wally. He notices that he and Kassie’s son Sebastien (Thomas Robinson) share are lot of the same anxieties and idiosyncrasies. Figuring out he must be the father, Wally decides to pursue Kassie, for whom he has always had feelings.
CHARACTER TRAITS: Strong willed, nurturing, witty, and ambitious.
NOTES ON PERFORMANCE: Aniston is mainly required to be charming here, and she demonstrates a convincing motherly chemistry with Robinson, as well as a sort of endearing, exasperation with Bateman’s Wally.
NOTES ON FILM: I like to imagine (as I have before) how different this Aniston film would be, if it were told from her character’s perspective. Single mother has her pregnancy hijacked by her ‘best friend’ and struggles to reconcile her feelings for him, while dating the man she thought was her son’s father. What about her insecurities, her dilemma of what to do for her son? Instead it’s essentially all about sperm, and a man’s ‘right’ to his child. Well, you could read it that way, annoyingly it’s also very enjoyable in parts and has the kind of happy ending that only works because the performances – Aniston, Bateman and Robinson – are so convincing.
CONCLUSION: A hugely watchable Aniston outing.
cinematicinvestigations.com 