Switching Channels (1988)

Overrated

Must See Movie...

A different way of telling a story

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Nobody expects greatness from actors like Burt Reynolds and Chris Reeves but they do have a certain charm and together with the wonderful Kathleen Turner, a competent director, some good character actors and a great script have produced an hilarious movie. As other reviewers have noted, the chemistry between Reynolds and Turner brings a lot to the movie and even though the dialogue has been completely re-written it works as well as it did in 1940 for Cary Grant in His Girl Friday (the second movie version of The Front Page and one of the funniest movies of all time). Interestingly, my DVD is called Scoop (rather than Switching Channels) - who knows why the name was changed but the choice of name is amusing. It seems likely that it is a reference to the eponymous Evelyn Waugh novel written in 1938 satirising the press.

Ted Kotcheff's attempt to send up the mass media (especially television) is yet another disappointment from a director who has shown talent previously. "Switching Channels" is for the most part rather corny, and if it wasn't for the marked improvement at the end of the film, it would have been very dull indeed.Kathleen Turner and Burt Reynolds make good sparring partners, and the supporting cast (which includes Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty and Henry Gibson) are fair, but none of them are good enough to really lift proceedings.A movie that has its moments, but nowhere near enough of them.Monday, February 8, 1993 - Video

Updating of "The Front Page" to 1988. Star reporter Christy (Kathleen Turner) on the Satellite Network News is burnt out. She takes a vacation and meets big, hunky, rich Blaine (Christopher Reeve) and falls in love (only in movies...). She plans to leave work to marry Blaine, but her ex-husband and boss Sully (Burt Reynolds) is unwilling to let her go and tries to sabotage their plans any way he can.Not as good as 1940s "His Girl Friday" but not as bad as the 1970s "The Front Page"--it really does work. It's quick, loud and never stops moving (especially at the end). It also helps that the entire cast is in full throttle--Turner, Reeve and Reynolds are relaxed, eager and full of energy--they really put across the movie. Turner and Reynolds especially are surprising--who knew they could do comedy? And Reeve kids his goody two-shoes image and his Superman character (he's afraid of heights in this one). Also Ned Beatty has quite a few funny moments as a slimy politician.The updating from the newspaper world to cable TV occasionally doesn't work and there are some really contrived situations here and there but not enough to destroy the movie. Also quite dated--get a look at those HUGE cordless phones! Still I enjoyed this film a lot.A bomb (sadly) in its day--this deserves rediscovery.

I thought the updating of the Front Page to the electronic era was surprisingly relevant and poignant. Henry Gibson is a standout in an excellent cast. The laughs and stories are updated for modern audiences and lose surprisingly little in the translation. The chemistry between Reynolds and Turner is pretty hot. All in all quite entertaining.