VICE VERSA
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1988 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Father and son trade bodies in what seems an unpromising comedy-fantasy but which breathes new life into into an old concept. VICE VERSA compares favorably with the Thorne Smith fantasy-comedies of the 1940s. Judge Reinhold's and Fred Savage's acting is very much on target. Rating: +2.
Thorne Smith was the master of the sophisticated supernatural comedy. Back in the 1920s and 1930s he wrote a series of sophisticated comic novels including THE PASSIONATE WITCH and NIGHT LIFE OF THE GODS, though his best- known series were the "Topper" books. Hollywood 1940s comedy fantasies including TURNABOUT, I MARRIED A WITCH, and the "Topper" series were based on his novels. TURNABOUT involved the comic effects of a man and a woman who somehow trade minds. The same idea of variations has been tried in films with uneven results. Not too long ago there was a reputedly terrible film on this theme called LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON in which a father and son change places. Dudley Moore played first the father, then the son. It appeared to be one more step down in Moore's career, which has been spotty since the hilarious BEDAZZLED. Now, perhaps too soon afterwards, another film has come out on the same theme and this one, I must say, is worthy of the Thorne Smith tradition.
Seymour Marshall (played by Judge Reinhold in one of his first adult roles) is an executive for a large department store who, through a smuggling slip-up, has come into possession of a magical skull from Tibet. While caring for his son while his ex-wife is on vacation, he whimsically wishes to trade places with his son Charlie (played by Fred Savage). For once whimsey does make it so. Now such a plot can be and has been done well or poorly. VICE VERSA does it about as well as it can be done. Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais, who produced the script the film as well as wrote the script, have really creative imaginations for comic situations. The result is a story that is not just cute but genuinely very funny. The film's only real false step is to mix in a cliched subplot with criminals and chases, but it remains a small part of the plot and even it is resolved in a novel manner.
The acting is surprisingly good by both Reinhold and Savage, who play the father and son (or VICE VERSA) under the direction of Brian Gilbert. Each has a feel for the mannerisms of the other. Savage is staid and dignified with a dominant edge; Reinhold's eleven-year-old boy is sloppy and explosive with a great feel for physical comedy. Savage as the father pretending to be the son finds seventh grade a breeze, but dealing with seventh grade bullies takes more than just an "enlightened, mature" approach. Reinhold's little boy as department store executive, dealing with what he calls "yin-yangs" and what the credits call "the backstabbers," has a winning ingenuous quality. VICE VERSA was a very pleasant surprise. Rate it a low +2 on the -2 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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Copyright 1988 Mark R. Leeper
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