Holiday Switch (2012)

Truly Dreadful Film

Sorry, this movie sucks

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This well meaning Christmas film serves every dish and trick in the book but the last 10 minutes are great. In this film a woman named Paula is married for 18 years to her high school sweet heart. Money is very tight and what make matters worse is the fact that is Christmas. Her husband however is a great guy but she doesn't see it. Money or lack of money is all she see's and blames him for her unhappiness. One day while walking around town she sees a former boyfriend from school. He is rich and successful and has a life that Paula truly wants. One morning she wakes up and finds herself in an alternate universe. She is now married to her former boyfriend but life is not great in this universe. In this universe she has money but not much else. Now this movie is worth watching because the last 10 minutes are wonderful.

In my quest to watch every Christmas movie ever made, this was randomly next. Made-for-Lifetime television, it really wasn't that great. Woman switches her hectic, worrisome life with another so that she can realize just how great she had it. You don't need millions of dollars, furs, closetful of shoes and dresses, and a Mercedes when you don't have love. La di frickin' da. How many times has this story been done? On the positive -- Nicole Eggert! (Charles In Charge, Baywatch.) I'd watch anything with her! And it was kind of Christmasy compared to many Made-for-TV Christmas movies. Stupid title, should have at least called it Christmas Switch and it's never explained why she got switched. Eh, whatever. Not recommended.5.2 / 10--A Kat Pirate Screener

It's not bad. And the message is sincere. So it's a really nice Xmas tale. However, some of you may have seen a movie with Nicolas Cage called "The Family Man", in it, Cage had a choice too...whether or not to drop a life of family for a cold lifestyle of unlimited riches and hedonistic pleasures. This is slightly different in that Eggert's Paula is a ball-buster, shallow materialistic witch. This was BEFORE she goes on this journey. To me, it may be too big of a leap of faith to think that her life would've changed all that much, and the "lesson" learned would cause her to bow.Both stories answer the question. Only one seems to have been bolted in ambiguity. And therefore, more honest.What I enjoyed a lot is the performances. Paula could destroy a man's will to live. And it would take a man as sincere and morally tough to sustain this "abuse". The man in question is Gary (Bret Anthony) who is a loving husband and a devoted father to two girls. He's EXACTLY what Lifetime movies dream of when it comes to ideal men. He's brow-beaten but still remains so optimistic. Challenges his wife to dance (what woman wouldn't want this?). So why in the world would Paula want anyone else?Because the grass is always greener. Strip the riches and see the man...and the filmmaker argues, is your choice. No one is bad in this movie. I like that. Paula seems to be her worst enemy. Even as we start to blame her "dream world" husband we realize it isn't him who developed the toxic relationship...it was Paula...it's always been Paula. So we're left to conclude, Gary is a stronger man than we'd suspected in the beginning.Yes, it's a contrivance. More appreciated during the holiday season. It has a good core with really nice performances. The pre-requisit shopping spree montage is wrangled in. Eggert goes from frumpy Mom with baggy Mom pants to stunning...easily. And it ends the way you want it to.

I think that the only good thing about this movie is that it was filmed in Winnipeg. The music is kind of cheesy, and the characters seem so fake and under experienced. Don't watch this movie, unless you turn the volume off and watch it in HD, to see Winnipeg in the Winter. Although, they live in a really poor neighborhood, so that part is really uninteresting... oh well T_T At least there are a lot of other movies to watch for the holidays. Try watching Christmas with the Kranks or something, at least those are actually funny. Plus, you can kind of tell that this was a low budget movie that has a lot of continuity errors and such, plus you can really tell that they used a very amateur editing program.