Switch (1991 film)
| Switch | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Blake Edwards |
| Produced by |
Tony Adams Executive Producer: Arnon Milchan Patrick Wachsberger Associate Producer: Trish Caroselli |
| Written by | Blake Edwards |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
Henry Mancini Don Grady |
| Cinematography | Dick Bush |
| Edited by | Robert Pergament |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
Warner Bros. (Time Warner) |
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Release date
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Running time
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103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $15,545,943 |
Switch is a 1991 comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards, based on George Axelrod's play Goodbye Charlie (and a 1964 film by the same title). The movie stars Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, JoBeth Williams and Lorraine Bracco.
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) named Amanda. After the change, Amanda/Steve encounters other people, including Steve's friend Walter, whom Amanda convinces of the truth of her identity, 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 end up having sex. In the morning, Amanda claims no memory of the sex and accuses Walter of raping her. Walter acts surprised and insists that Amanda was an enthusiastic participant. 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.
The film received mixed to negative reviews and holds a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It debuted at No. 2 at the box office.
Although not a success at the box office, Ellen Barkin was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role while Bruce Payne was described as a 'delightfully wicked Satan' by Film Review.
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