Rating: 2/5 stars

Everyone loves a classic “Freaky Friday” story, but “Family Switch” takes this story of mother and daughter switching and does the whole family switching in the Christmas family comedy. 

“Family Switch” premiered on Netflix on Nov. 30 and stars Jennifer Garner (“The Last Thing He Told Me”) as the mom Jess Walker, Ed Helms (“Together Together”) as the father Bill Walker, Emma Myers (“Wednesday”) as the daughter CC and Brady Noon (“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”) as the son Wyatt. 

This movie takes the typical view of teenagers nowadays and pokes fun at families being disconnected due to work, devices and school. CC and Jess have different opinions on school and CC’s future, and Bill and Wyatt don’t seem to have anything in common and cannot connect as father and son.

As a family comedy, a movie is expected to be a little cheesy, but it seemed that the jokes were a little too cringey and could have done a better job at not playing too much into stereotypical teenage jokes. The chemistry of the actors was not the best and at times the movie felt disconnected which could be the point, but it just didn’t feel genuine. 

The Christmas spin to the movie did a lot and gave a warm feeling to the movie. Jennifer Garner is always fantastic in these feel-good movies, and “Family Switch” is no exception. She plays both parts seamlessly and always does a great job of portraying her characters in whichever role she is playing. 

“Family Switch” also seemed to lack the depth that these types of holiday movies have. The script gave cold and not genuine comments and actions that real people just wouldn’t say or do. It went a little too unrealistic and that was its downfall. If “Family Switch” took on the more realistic route and paid more attention to the themes of love and family, it could have felt more genuine.

Some of the shots and scenery were not the greatest. It felt fake and staged which added to this disconnected feel. Of course, one can not expect perfect CGI in a family comedy, but it just seemed that some of the CGI choices were not necessary and took the audience out of the movie.

However, sometimes a cheesy movie is needed during the holiday season. A feel-good movie that the whole family can enjoy is fun, but “Family Switch” seemed to be missing some of those classic characteristics of a feel-good movie that makes it enjoyable for the whole family. The concept of a ‘Freaky Friday’ with the family and Christmas is a great idea and some parts were executed well, but overall the movie fell flat and did not feel like an instant holiday classic.

Image from Netflix via YouTube.com