Vice Versa

An inoffensively entertaining ’80s comedy, Vice Versa follows harried department-store executive Marshall Seymour (Judge Reinhold) as he inadvertently switches bodies with his adolescent son (Fred Savage’s Charlie) after coming into contact with a mysterious skull. Aside from the expected problems associated with the exchange – eg Marshall must contend with several of his son’s bullies – Marshall and Charlie are also forced to dodge the advances of two comically inept smugglers (Swoosie Kurtz’s Tina and David Proval’s Turk) who are determined to retrieve the aforementioned skull. It’s an admittedly irresistible premise that’s initially employed to disappointingly middling effect by filmmaker Brian Gilbert, as the film boasts an opening half hour that’s hardly as compelling as one might’ve hoped – with the surprisingly low-rent visuals and production values effectively exacerbating the movie’s less-than-enthralling atmosphere. It’s only as Marshall and Charlie trade places that Vice Versa becomes the overtly (and unapologetically) wacky piece of work one might’ve expected, as the emphasis is consistently placed on the two characters’ fish-out-of-water high jinks within their respective environs (eg Charlie stages an impromptu rock concert within the music section of his father’s department store, while Marshall explains away the antisocial behavior of a classmate by noting that “he’s a depressing indictment of our educational system.”) And although Savage is quite good here, there’s little doubt that Reinhold’s gleefully over-the-top work stands as Vice Versa‘s most entertaining attribute – with the actor’s go-for-broke turn effectively smoothing over the film’s various problems and ultimately cementing its place as an agreeable (yet forgettable) entry within the body-switching genre.

**1/2 out of ****