"The Switch" Debuts on August 20, 2010
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Arts and Entertainment
The Switch is rated PG-13 by the MPAA. The film opens in U.S. theatres on August 20, 2010.
I cant wait around for something that may never happen!ÂÂÂ
With those words, spoken to her best friend Wally, Kassie sets out to find the perfect
sperm donor, but her plans go awry in Miramax Films and Mandate Pictures offbeat
comedy The Switch, directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck and written by Allan Loeb,
based on the short story Baster by Jeffrey Eugenides.
Starring Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum and Juliette
Lewis, The Switch is produced by Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa. Nathan Kahane, Jennifer
Aniston and Kristin Hahn are executive producers.
THE STORY
Neurotic, self-absorbed and pessimistic Wally Mars (Jason Bateman) financial success with New York stock trading partner Leonard (Jeff Goldblum) does little to shake his fundamentally gloomy perspective on the world. The one bright spot is his best friend Kassie (Jennifer Aniston), beautiful and funny, who, unfortunately for Wally, is content being just friends. When Kassie, in her early 40s and single, announces that she wants to have a baby and doesnt plan to let the lack of a husband or boyfriend stand in the way, Wally is bursting with anticipation at what he expects to be asked. Then Kassie lowers the boomshe wants him to help her find Mr. Perfect Sperm Donor, not be Mr. Perfect Sperm Donor.
Before long, Kassie finds the perfect donor in the form of charming, Nordiclooking
Roland (Patrick Wilson). At Kassies insemination party, thrown by her best girlfriend Debbie (Juliette Lewis), Wally makes what is surely a life-changing switch, then passes out and remembers nothing.
Kassies plan moves right alongshe becomes pregnant and happily moves back home to Minnesota to raise her baby.
Seven years later she moves back to New York, and Wally, still neurotic and still single, gets acquainted with Kassies precociousthough slightly neuroticson, Sebastian (Thomas Robinson). The two hit it off, and Wally starts spending more time with Sebastian.
Wally becomes more and more intrigued, and confused, by how familiar Sebastian seems, even though Sebastian seems to understand very clearly he came from a seed guy and has no real father.
Wally becomes convinced that Sebastian is his sonthat he hijacked Kassies pregnancy. But how can Wally tell her? Kassie is getting ready to get married and have the family she always wanted. If Wally tells Kassie the truth now, he could lose her foreverand if he doesnt, he could lose his son.
But the way a man looks at the world when he is young and single and the way he looks at it when he loves a woman and has a child of his own are two very different things. Neurotic Wally needs to find the courage to face the truth and take the biggest risk of his life.
BIRTHING THE SWITCHÂÂÂ
The Switch is based on the short story Baster, written by Pulitzer Prizewinning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides, author of The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex. Screenwriter Allan Loeb discovered the story when it was originally published in The New Yorker in 1996 and believed it would be a great premise for a film. Loeb subsequently developed the screenplay with producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa of Bona Fide Productions.
Producer Nathan Kahane, president of Mandate Pictures (Juno, Stranger than FictionÂÂÂ), had an opportunity to read the script and became an enthusiastic fan. We felt it had a totally fresh approach to a very unique subject, so we reached out to Albert [Berger] and Ron [Yerxa], whom we have worked with in the past, to let them know we were extremely passionate about partnering with them on this film.ÂÂÂ
Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa have produced an eclectic roster of some of the most popular and critically acclaimed films of recent years, including Little Miss Sunshine, Election, Cold Mountain, Bee Season and Little Children.ÂÂÂ
Ron Yerxa explains why he and Berger were drawn to the premise behind The Switch. We like comedies that explore the underlying social forces in America. This project had a unique premise and it presented social ideas in collision.ÂÂÂ
But Berger says that doesnt mean the story wont resonate. This movie, and particularly the character of Kassie, will be very familiar to audiences. Shes going through a classic dilemma that women face these days. She has a career. She is very well educated. She has been in relationships that havent exactly panned out for her. She very much wants to have a child and to find the right balance between family and career, so she goes ahead and does something about it. That go-at-it-alone quality is something that people will really relate to.ÂÂÂ
Jennifer Aniston, empathizing with her character Kassie, explains, When we meet Kassie shes at a time in her life where shes just ready to have a child. She alerts her best friend that shes going to sort of do this on her own because she really feels she wants a child more than she needs the man, which I found quite interesting. I dont know if I would do it that way, but anyway, she does, and there are a lot of women out there who do, so I think its great to represent.ÂÂÂ
Yerxa felt that this story allowed the comedy genre to be developed and explored in a new way. He describes The Switch as a subversive comedy because the ordinary innocent peccadilloeslosing a phone number and needing to find it, misunderstanding a message and
consequently believing a falsehoodare absent.
Nathan Kahane adds that the core of this story is also really about Wallys journey. Hes a regular guy who is so repressed he barely knows what he wants or how to get it. When he finally does take action on his feelings, he does a terrible thing and we then cant help but laugh as we watch him repent and redeem himself to become the kind of man a boy would be proud to call his father.ÂÂÂ
In The Switch, Wally suffers a real crisis of conscience over his deceitful act. He risks losing Kassie forever as a friend if he tells her, and yet he has to face that not telling her would be the actions of a child and not a grown man. For the first time in his life, Wally has to grow up and take responsibility for his own actions, regardless of the outcome, because it is the right thing to do.
Kassie, on the other hand, must deal with trustbeing deceived by her best friend in a way that is irrevocable. Her innocent denial of the fact that Sebastian looks and acts so much like Wally is her own way of postponing the inevitable truthknowing she will need to
make some choices as a result.
As far as the comedy goes, says Bateman, its not pie-in-the-face, winky, slapstick kind of broad comedy. Its whatever laughs would come from people being in a real situation, so we never lean into any of the stuff and its not some knee-slapping, silly comedy. Its character-driven with a lot of reactionsstuff that I really like to do and its material that makes me laugh, so if Ive ever made you laugh, then youd probably like this.ÂÂÂ
In a way, this is a comedy, but its a moral tale too, Ron Yerxa says. The implications of not being emotionally honest or going deep enough with yourself so that almost every way you act is the opposite of what you really want and need, thats certainly the character that Jason Bateman plays.
Jennifer Anistons character is strong and clear in her desires. She holds on to her beliefs and is a good parent even in the face of the obstructions and difficulties she never anticipated.ÂÂÂ
Yerxa continues, Its interesting that Jennifer Anistons character is a good parent throughout, but Jason Batemans character, when he first meets Sebastian, is put off. He has no tolerance or humanistic connection to children and its really an act of discovery on his part. The very reasons he cant stand this child are the things that he repudiates in himself. So, only by a mutual act of self-discovery can he open himself up to accept and love the child. And the journey here is that you might be a totally narcissistic, materialistic, career-oriented New Yorker, but given enough time if you open up to the people who enter your life, you have a chance to become a much better person than you were in the beginning. So Id put it in the social-class category of comedy.ÂÂÂ
ËœThe Switch, in my view, says Berger, is really about a guy, Wally, Jason Bateman, who has very strong, unrealized feelings towards Kassie, Jennifer Aniston, who he thinks is his best friend. But, what the audience realizes is that theres much more to it for him and its one of those movies that takes the character a while to catch up to what the audience may be suspecting early on. Its a very recognizable situation. There are a lot of dynamics in relationships where a character has to grow into his own feelings and I think thats very much the journey of Wally in this movie.ÂÂÂ
ON BOARD WITH DIRECTORS JOSH GORDON & WILL SPECK
Berger and Yerxa knew of Josh Gordon and Will Speck from their extensive commercial work, but it was their hilarious figure-skating spoof Blades of Glory that made the directors appealing candidates for The Switch to all the filmmakers involved. We thought ˜Blades of Glory was quite witty and inspired and had an interestingly odd, unexpected premise, says Ron Yerxa.
In Blades of Glory, where two men partner up to compete for the national figure-skating championships, the directors explored gender roles and expectations as well as the changing dynamic of adversaries becoming friends.
We thought theyd be a good match, because they could deal with the outrageous and the physical, continues Yerxa, but they also wanted to explore the characters and crisis of conscience and other weightier issues.ÂÂÂ
Kahane comments, Once we all sat down with Will and Josh to hear their thoughts on how to bring this great script to life, it was clear that we had to make this movie.ÂÂÂ
Berger adds, Will and Josh are fantastic collaborators and wonderful directors. They have primarily made a name for themselves in the world of commercials. They have one feature under their belt, ËœBlades of Glory, which is a mainstream comedy. This was something a bit more sophisticated and I think the direction they are moving toward. Theyre perfectionists. Ron and I have worked a lot with directing teams and Will and Josh are really unique in the sense that they collaborate very closely, but at the same time they have divided interests, so that Will is more in the arena of production design and costume design whereas Josh is more camera oriented.ÂÂÂ
Will Speck, commenting on the films appeal from his and Josh Gordons point of view, says, I think the thing that we thought was different here was that it didnt have a lot of artificial conceit to it. These characters felt real and they felt grounded in the real world. It was pretty much, to us, as it would unfold in real life.ÂÂÂ
Josh Gordon adds: It really is about how families come together in kind of interesting ways. They dont have to follow a pre-prescribed path, and this group of people certainly didnt do that in this movie.ÂÂÂ
Some of the cast members commented on the experience of working with two directors:
Working with two directors was great, says Jason Bateman. Will and Josh are a lot of fun and we share the same sensibilities. It was like doing a film with two of your really good buddies. Theyve really worked out a great system and Id love to work with another pair.
Its much more efficient, you know. The only other time Ive worked with two directors was when I did a Gap commercial, says Patrick Wilson, with Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who did ˜Little Miss Sunshine. That was the only time Id ever experienced
two directors in the room, so I was wondering how it was going to go, but they get along so well. Theyre like Butch and Sundance¦or Batman and Robin¦actually, its more like Tango and Cash.
Will was the one whod run in and give the acting notes and Josh handled more of the technical side. They work really well together, which makes it easy on everyone around.ÂÂÂ
For Juliette Lewis, it was a new experience. This is the first time Ive worked with the duo, the directing team, and this is a very unique situation. They seem to really agree and the great thing about creative partnerships is they probably have different talents and together collectively create this really creative dynamic. And theyre really, really fun.ÂÂÂ
I cant wait around for something that may never happen!ÂÂÂ
With those words, spoken to her best friend Wally, Kassie sets out to find the perfect
sperm donor, but her plans go awry in Miramax Films and Mandate Pictures offbeat
comedy The Switch, directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck and written by Allan Loeb,
based on the short story Baster by Jeffrey Eugenides.
Starring Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Patrick Wilson, Jeff Goldblum and Juliette
Lewis, The Switch is produced by Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa. Nathan Kahane, Jennifer
Aniston and Kristin Hahn are executive producers.
THE STORY
Neurotic, self-absorbed and pessimistic Wally Mars (Jason Bateman) financial success with New York stock trading partner Leonard (Jeff Goldblum) does little to shake his fundamentally gloomy perspective on the world. The one bright spot is his best friend Kassie (Jennifer Aniston), beautiful and funny, who, unfortunately for Wally, is content being just friends. When Kassie, in her early 40s and single, announces that she wants to have a baby and doesnt plan to let the lack of a husband or boyfriend stand in the way, Wally is bursting with anticipation at what he expects to be asked. Then Kassie lowers the boomshe wants him to help her find Mr. Perfect Sperm Donor, not be Mr. Perfect Sperm Donor.
Before long, Kassie finds the perfect donor in the form of charming, Nordiclooking
Roland (Patrick Wilson). At Kassies insemination party, thrown by her best girlfriend Debbie (Juliette Lewis), Wally makes what is surely a life-changing switch, then passes out and remembers nothing.
Kassies plan moves right alongshe becomes pregnant and happily moves back home to Minnesota to raise her baby.
Seven years later she moves back to New York, and Wally, still neurotic and still single, gets acquainted with Kassies precociousthough slightly neuroticson, Sebastian (Thomas Robinson). The two hit it off, and Wally starts spending more time with Sebastian.
Wally becomes more and more intrigued, and confused, by how familiar Sebastian seems, even though Sebastian seems to understand very clearly he came from a seed guy and has no real father.
Wally becomes convinced that Sebastian is his sonthat he hijacked Kassies pregnancy. But how can Wally tell her? Kassie is getting ready to get married and have the family she always wanted. If Wally tells Kassie the truth now, he could lose her foreverand if he doesnt, he could lose his son.
But the way a man looks at the world when he is young and single and the way he looks at it when he loves a woman and has a child of his own are two very different things. Neurotic Wally needs to find the courage to face the truth and take the biggest risk of his life.
BIRTHING THE SWITCHÂÂÂ
The Switch is based on the short story Baster, written by Pulitzer Prizewinning novelist Jeffrey Eugenides, author of The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex. Screenwriter Allan Loeb discovered the story when it was originally published in The New Yorker in 1996 and believed it would be a great premise for a film. Loeb subsequently developed the screenplay with producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa of Bona Fide Productions.
Producer Nathan Kahane, president of Mandate Pictures (Juno, Stranger than FictionÂÂÂ), had an opportunity to read the script and became an enthusiastic fan. We felt it had a totally fresh approach to a very unique subject, so we reached out to Albert [Berger] and Ron [Yerxa], whom we have worked with in the past, to let them know we were extremely passionate about partnering with them on this film.ÂÂÂ
Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa have produced an eclectic roster of some of the most popular and critically acclaimed films of recent years, including Little Miss Sunshine, Election, Cold Mountain, Bee Season and Little Children.ÂÂÂ
Ron Yerxa explains why he and Berger were drawn to the premise behind The Switch. We like comedies that explore the underlying social forces in America. This project had a unique premise and it presented social ideas in collision.ÂÂÂ
But Berger says that doesnt mean the story wont resonate. This movie, and particularly the character of Kassie, will be very familiar to audiences. Shes going through a classic dilemma that women face these days. She has a career. She is very well educated. She has been in relationships that havent exactly panned out for her. She very much wants to have a child and to find the right balance between family and career, so she goes ahead and does something about it. That go-at-it-alone quality is something that people will really relate to.ÂÂÂ
Jennifer Aniston, empathizing with her character Kassie, explains, When we meet Kassie shes at a time in her life where shes just ready to have a child. She alerts her best friend that shes going to sort of do this on her own because she really feels she wants a child more than she needs the man, which I found quite interesting. I dont know if I would do it that way, but anyway, she does, and there are a lot of women out there who do, so I think its great to represent.ÂÂÂ
Yerxa felt that this story allowed the comedy genre to be developed and explored in a new way. He describes The Switch as a subversive comedy because the ordinary innocent peccadilloeslosing a phone number and needing to find it, misunderstanding a message and
consequently believing a falsehoodare absent.
Nathan Kahane adds that the core of this story is also really about Wallys journey. Hes a regular guy who is so repressed he barely knows what he wants or how to get it. When he finally does take action on his feelings, he does a terrible thing and we then cant help but laugh as we watch him repent and redeem himself to become the kind of man a boy would be proud to call his father.ÂÂÂ
In The Switch, Wally suffers a real crisis of conscience over his deceitful act. He risks losing Kassie forever as a friend if he tells her, and yet he has to face that not telling her would be the actions of a child and not a grown man. For the first time in his life, Wally has to grow up and take responsibility for his own actions, regardless of the outcome, because it is the right thing to do.
Kassie, on the other hand, must deal with trustbeing deceived by her best friend in a way that is irrevocable. Her innocent denial of the fact that Sebastian looks and acts so much like Wally is her own way of postponing the inevitable truthknowing she will need to
make some choices as a result.
As far as the comedy goes, says Bateman, its not pie-in-the-face, winky, slapstick kind of broad comedy. Its whatever laughs would come from people being in a real situation, so we never lean into any of the stuff and its not some knee-slapping, silly comedy. Its character-driven with a lot of reactionsstuff that I really like to do and its material that makes me laugh, so if Ive ever made you laugh, then youd probably like this.ÂÂÂ
In a way, this is a comedy, but its a moral tale too, Ron Yerxa says. The implications of not being emotionally honest or going deep enough with yourself so that almost every way you act is the opposite of what you really want and need, thats certainly the character that Jason Bateman plays.
Jennifer Anistons character is strong and clear in her desires. She holds on to her beliefs and is a good parent even in the face of the obstructions and difficulties she never anticipated.ÂÂÂ
Yerxa continues, Its interesting that Jennifer Anistons character is a good parent throughout, but Jason Batemans character, when he first meets Sebastian, is put off. He has no tolerance or humanistic connection to children and its really an act of discovery on his part. The very reasons he cant stand this child are the things that he repudiates in himself. So, only by a mutual act of self-discovery can he open himself up to accept and love the child. And the journey here is that you might be a totally narcissistic, materialistic, career-oriented New Yorker, but given enough time if you open up to the people who enter your life, you have a chance to become a much better person than you were in the beginning. So Id put it in the social-class category of comedy.ÂÂÂ
ËœThe Switch, in my view, says Berger, is really about a guy, Wally, Jason Bateman, who has very strong, unrealized feelings towards Kassie, Jennifer Aniston, who he thinks is his best friend. But, what the audience realizes is that theres much more to it for him and its one of those movies that takes the character a while to catch up to what the audience may be suspecting early on. Its a very recognizable situation. There are a lot of dynamics in relationships where a character has to grow into his own feelings and I think thats very much the journey of Wally in this movie.ÂÂÂ
ON BOARD WITH DIRECTORS JOSH GORDON & WILL SPECK
Berger and Yerxa knew of Josh Gordon and Will Speck from their extensive commercial work, but it was their hilarious figure-skating spoof Blades of Glory that made the directors appealing candidates for The Switch to all the filmmakers involved. We thought ˜Blades of Glory was quite witty and inspired and had an interestingly odd, unexpected premise, says Ron Yerxa.
In Blades of Glory, where two men partner up to compete for the national figure-skating championships, the directors explored gender roles and expectations as well as the changing dynamic of adversaries becoming friends.
We thought theyd be a good match, because they could deal with the outrageous and the physical, continues Yerxa, but they also wanted to explore the characters and crisis of conscience and other weightier issues.ÂÂÂ
Kahane comments, Once we all sat down with Will and Josh to hear their thoughts on how to bring this great script to life, it was clear that we had to make this movie.ÂÂÂ
Berger adds, Will and Josh are fantastic collaborators and wonderful directors. They have primarily made a name for themselves in the world of commercials. They have one feature under their belt, ËœBlades of Glory, which is a mainstream comedy. This was something a bit more sophisticated and I think the direction they are moving toward. Theyre perfectionists. Ron and I have worked a lot with directing teams and Will and Josh are really unique in the sense that they collaborate very closely, but at the same time they have divided interests, so that Will is more in the arena of production design and costume design whereas Josh is more camera oriented.ÂÂÂ
Will Speck, commenting on the films appeal from his and Josh Gordons point of view, says, I think the thing that we thought was different here was that it didnt have a lot of artificial conceit to it. These characters felt real and they felt grounded in the real world. It was pretty much, to us, as it would unfold in real life.ÂÂÂ
Josh Gordon adds: It really is about how families come together in kind of interesting ways. They dont have to follow a pre-prescribed path, and this group of people certainly didnt do that in this movie.ÂÂÂ
Some of the cast members commented on the experience of working with two directors:
Working with two directors was great, says Jason Bateman. Will and Josh are a lot of fun and we share the same sensibilities. It was like doing a film with two of your really good buddies. Theyve really worked out a great system and Id love to work with another pair.
Its much more efficient, you know. The only other time Ive worked with two directors was when I did a Gap commercial, says Patrick Wilson, with Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who did ˜Little Miss Sunshine. That was the only time Id ever experienced
two directors in the room, so I was wondering how it was going to go, but they get along so well. Theyre like Butch and Sundance¦or Batman and Robin¦actually, its more like Tango and Cash.
Will was the one whod run in and give the acting notes and Josh handled more of the technical side. They work really well together, which makes it easy on everyone around.ÂÂÂ
For Juliette Lewis, it was a new experience. This is the first time Ive worked with the duo, the directing team, and this is a very unique situation. They seem to really agree and the great thing about creative partnerships is they probably have different talents and together collectively create this really creative dynamic. And theyre really, really fun.ÂÂÂ