The acting in this movie is really good.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Sorry, Charlie, only good looking men who know how to treat a woman get to avoid the fate of Perry King here. The early 60's Broadway play "Goodbye Charlie" (starring Lauren Bacall) which became a flop movie starring Debbie Reynolds became the basis for this Blake Edwards update where the individual mistresses of a naughty New York playboy get together and plan his demise. His death isn't going to be an easy one. The three of these women don't have the strength to hold his head underwater, so it's finally a gunshot which does him in and sends him straight to hell where it is judged that he must return to life inside a woman's body with the same mind and find somebody who really loves him/her within a set period of time, otherwise be eternally damned.Coming back to earth in this classic variation on "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" and its remake "Heaven Can Wait", King changes into the sultry voiced Ellen Barkin, and when he wakes up after having a supposed nightmare of being murdered and finds out that he's now a woman, he/she confronts his/her "killers" and thus begins a scheme of blackmail and life living as a woman, pretty much doing the same thing all over again. But a he-man like the deceased King isn't going to play around with men; this "switch" makes him/her go from "playboy" to "playgirl", a lesbian who seduces a woman simply to get a business deal through and ultimately breaks her heart just as he had done with the women who did him in.Along the way, there's his best buddy, Jimmy Smits, not as much of a playboy, or at least with a bit more ethics, and when the new best buddies of man and woman have a bit too much to drink, it ends up in a scene that some people might classify as date rape. That is one element which some of the critics truly found disturbing and why some panned it. But there couldn't be the final plot twist without that, so sometimes a writer has to take liberties with good taste in order to satisfy the storyline. The performances of Barkin and Smits are excellent, and her reaction to what happens with them is priceless, as is the twist which occurs because of their one-time encounter.In supporting roles, Tony Roberts, Jobeth Williams and Lorraine Bracco are all excellent. Williams is a tough straight broad who tells it the way she feels, especially when encountering a woman who comments on her mink, "Do you realize how many poor animals had to die so you could get that coat?". Roberts plays King and Smit's boss who is an older version of King's sleazy character, and when Smits gets the axe, he gives him an outstanding exit line. From the moment you see Bracco, she is truly unforgettable as the lonely lesbian Barkin takes advantage of. You can see she's been used by men which is why she switched to women (another controversial plot element which probably disturbed a lot of lesbians), but there's a light sense of reality to her pain.This is a film which is going to give a lot of mixed emotions to people, certainly not a flawless film, but one which deserved to get a bit more acclaim than it received. It's probably because of Barkin's energetic performance that made me like this as much as I did, but it's also the gorgeous Joni Mitchell song which opens and closes the film, and really gives some morality to an otherwise shady story. Take this movie for the statement it is trying to make on male/female relationships and the theory that people really can change when destiny calls for it. They may not need to be murdered and brought back in the body of the opposite sex to do it, but there is certainly hope for everybody.

Switch is just one of those movies you just have to love.Touching on offensive subject matter and being socially inappropriate by today's censored standards it tells the story of a womanizer named Steve who is murdered by 3 of his ex lovers for being a male chauvinistic pig. He crosses over into a sort of limbo and being thats he's been so bad to the opposite sex is sent back to earth to find one female who truly loves him. He than can move on to heaven but if he can't will go straight to hell. The woman he becomes is played by a young Ellen Barkin in her sexual prime and comic glory.Creative laughs ensue as he deals with homosexuality, struggles of sexism in the workplace and world, repercussions of his past actions from women and advances from all kinds of men including his best friend played charmingly by the than hunky Jimmy Smits. The movie is smart funny and wholly original in its exploration of its premise and even raunchy and envelop pushing by todays standards. Although not a perfect film there are some pacing issues and questionable directorial approaches on how he approaches the material times. Switch is still a great movie as timely as ever showing us just how little we've progressed in the age old war between the sexes not to say their hasn't been a lot of progress but we still have a ways to go.

What a way to go. When a man mistreats a woman, he comes back as one. In the movie "Switch", it makes all sense. Perry King known as Cody on NBC's "RipTide" plays Steve Brooks, a known playboy who gets his just desserts. During a night out with some ex-girlfriends, he gets a taste of his own medicine and then some. He gets killed. In the Bible, adulterers and fornicators have their part in the lake of fire. However, he does get a second chance of life. Not as Steve, but as Amanda(Ellen Barkin). His best friend Walter(Jimmy Smits, LA LAW and NYPD BLUE) starts to get suspicious of her. Not knowing that Steve was killed by the exes, it's up to Amanda to nail his killers. When Walter and Amanda get married, the relationship is short. She has a daughter and dies. At least there was some redemption there. Born a man, see the errors of your ways as a woman and get to Heaven. Most men would wise up from their playboy ways, and there are those who just don't get it. A very good movie, and got some biblical sense in it as well. 3 out of 5 stars!

As taken from the IMDb "Cleo/Leo": I portrayed the role on which JoBeth Williams role was based. A low budget romp, it was then taken and redone by Blake Edwards. Here is the quote from the page on Cleo/Leo and the review (saying it was better than this one) is attached (I personally loved this one and got a real kick out of seeing it brought from low budget to high budget and some (yikes) 7 years LATER I worked side by side WITH JoBeth teaching her sign for the TV movie "Breaking Through" as technical adviser and Co-Starring as Sister Anne in this based on a true life story.you can check out this quote by going to my name : Jennifer Delora or to Cleo/Leo on the IMDb."Essentially the same story Blake Edwards released two years later ("Switch" (1991)) told by a cast of B-movie actors, scream queens and ex-porn stars. In my opinion it's actually the better of the two movies. Deeply flawed don't get me wrong, but far better then Edwards' go at the same subject.Written and directed by Chuck Vincent (also well known for his XXX origins), "Cleo/Leo" is far bolder then most gender switching comedies. I think it must have grown out of Vincent's need to have a late night premium cable friendly T&A showcase that he could sell more so then any artistic drive. But for whatever the reasons may be, sexists Leo, trapped inside the desirable body of Cleo, goes farther then most and as a result actually ask more questions of him/her self then most. Side by side against it companions in the vary small genre of reincarnated sex change centered comedies this little movie is at times surprisingly unflinching, and funny to boot.Don't get me wrong, as I said its flaws are many, and worse still this seldom re-released video is very hard to find. So don't kill yourself looking for it, and more importantly don't kill me if you find it disappointing. But it is a cute B-movie and worth the watching time if you some times like your comedies cheesy, cheap, and adolescent. "funny thing is, when I worked with JoBeth and was in touch with her when I was in LA - I had never realized it because I hadn't seen the film in a long time so it's kind of funny, especially since my career in the 80's (I'm still working but the IMDb is not up to date), I was told I looked like her; when me met in 96, found it to be true and got it from a lot of people so it's humorous to me. But if you liked this (by the way I'm not the XXX star I'm the 'scream queen mentioned above - just a note hehe) check out the very funny, silly low budget version... and yeah, I carry out a gun in this one, and dump the guy in the water, and get called a "Dyke" by him before chasing him with a gun my line "How would you like to function without any balls" as I point the gun to his crotch, chase him, shoot him, he dumps in the water and comes out - a woman ! .. lots of the same thing and those same 80's HAIRSTYLES yikes..EnjoyJennifer Delora, PhD