Here’s another movie where two characters switch bodies. Such a familiar endeavor can only be successful if its actors are up to the challenge and its screenplay finds some humor out of the obvious. “Body Swap” does a semi-good job pulling it off.
The writer of this film, Jimmy Kustes, also stars as Casey, an unemployed gamer obsessed with his television. The body switch happens after he goes to an actual job interview and is interviewed by CJ (a delightful Ella Jordan). Casey fails miserably during that meeting. Alas, like almost every movie in this genre, there’s needs to be an electric shock for the switcharoo to happen. And so, CJ and Casey hold on to a shredder, a drink is spilled and, et voila, the electro body-swapping occurs.
Part of the success of this film resides in the main actor also being the screenwriter. This lets Kustes have more room to play around with the situation at hand. I don’t doubt improv may have been used here and there, and those moments turn out to be the most genuinely funny ones. There are predictable situations as well, we kind of know where this is going, the moral acuity is familiar enough, but Kustes and director Timothy Morton are self-aware about how easily you can get trapped into the same-old-same-old tropes of the body-swapping genre.
There’s also the addition of socio-political substance, albeit done in none-too-subtle ways, involving gender roles in society. That is mixed in with low-brow humor, especially boob jokes, but the film’s attempt to mix this humor with social commentary gives it an extra spike.
The chemistry between the two leads is what drives the momentum forward. The film actually begins with the ending, as CJ and Casey reflect, in talking-head styled interview, on the body swap experience they had. It’s a nicely added little touch to a film that can feel formulaic, one that doesn’t really push boundaries but goes down well enough at just 72 minutes in length.
Of course, budgetary restrictions come into play with such an indie, and lack of polishing is a problem. The editing isn’t entirely smooth, and some of the shots are overcomposed. Regardless, this is more a movie about an actor wanting to write himself into a script filled with playful potential. There’s a genuine sense of high-spiritedness here, akin to a bunch of friends deciding to shoot a movie on a weekend and having the time of their lives doing so.
SCORE: C+
This year Body Swap played the 29th Woods Hole Film Festival and won Best Comedy Feature at the 53th Worldfest-Houston where Ella Jordan was nominated for Best Actress and Kayte Giralt was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. It won Best Feature at Louisville's International Festival of Film headed by Academy governor Conrad Bachmann as well as at the Oscar-qualifying Peachtree International Film Festival.
It is now available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Microsoft platforms worldwide.