In this reviewer’s eyes, Jason Bateman’s work on the gem Arrested Development has earned him enough celluloid-cred to last the rest of his career. Anything he does at this point can only add to his legacy as the everyday “straight-man”, a role he performed effortlessly in the FOX television series as well as on the big screen. Here in, The Switch, Bateman is at it again, playing it straight albeit suffering from a slight case of neurosis and a generally morose disposition.

His character, Wally, is a single New York stock broker with an equally single best friend, Kassie, played by Jennifer Aniston doing her usual stop and blink incredulously shtick (see the box cover of the Blu-ray release and you’ll know what I mean). Kassie, fearing her baby clock is winding down, has decided that looking for the right man to impregnate her is as simple as finding a stud to do a quick pull-job in the bedroom of her home, and thus we have the lynchpin of this story: sperm donation.

Wally, blackout drunk and bitter that Kassie’s sperm hunt never aimed to enlist his own little swimmers, stumbles upon the “donation” destined to become Kassie’s child, and replaces the sample with his own. Kassie moves away from New York to raise her child, and seven years later returns to the city and Wally’s life. Despite the fact that Kassie’s son, Sebastian, walks, talks, and acts like Wally, no one knows (or remembers, in Wally’s case) that Wally is indeed the father. As the film progresses, and Wally begins to remember the night in question, his true dilemma emerges: tell Kassie the truth about their son without destroying the relationships he desperately wants to hold onto.

Before I continue let me say a thing or two about romantic comedies. The genre is a tired one; exhausted at every end of the spectrum they have ranged from the gross-out, ala Something about Mary, to more tasteful fare like Sleepless in Seattle and most recently, anything with Drew Barrymore.

This is not to say that the genre cannot have its shining moments and, as in this film, there are moments that certainly make the experience worthwhile. The interaction between Sebastian, played by six year old revelation Thomas Robinson and Bateman’s Wally are among the best segments in the film; and to their credit, Aniston and Bateman do exactly what they are supposed to do in this film. The supporting cast Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis and Patrick Wilson, do their part as well, eliciting a couple laughs every now and then.

The problem I have with this film is that the laughs are too few and far between, a problem I believe that stems from the mixed messages the directors seemed to be conveying

here. Directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck, who also helmed Blades of Glory, do their best to blend vulgar, comedic elements with heart warming moments; add a sprinkle of tense, dramatic scenes and a dash of introspective revelations and you have Gordon and Speck’s recipe. It’s a herky-jerky ride on this film, a start and start rhythm that never quite gets its footing because it doesn’t know which foot should go first; the scenes, even if you consider them self-standing articles, are not strong enough to fuel the film.

The other problem with this film is that it hinges critically on the relationship of Aniston and Bateman’s characters and, to put it mildly, there is nothing there. No spark. Not an ounce of sexual energy oozes from their interactions. We are supposed to believe they are best friends and possibly something more but throughout much of the film they bicker at each other, mostly about Aniston’s need to find a man that isn’t Bateman.

The real redeeming stuff in this film is the scenes with Bateman and Robinson, who is the heart of this film and probably the reason to see this. His deadpan delivery and neurotic obsessions sound hilarious tumbling from the mouth of a six-year old. Some of the scenes with the two are so touching that you forget that the loading screen for the Blu-ray is a large sperm cell, or that underneath Aniston Surprise Face #73 on the box cover is Bateman holding a cup of semen, but I digress to my earlier statement on mixed messages.

As for the Blu-ray extras, we’re given the basic offering here: deleted scenes, an alternate ending, a blooper reel, and the highlight of the extras-especially if you, like me are a fan of Goldblum, Lewis and Bateman-the obligatory behind-the-scenes documentary.

For a genre that has seen it all, The Switch gives little more than the baseline effort to provide something fresh, touching, and engrossing. There are good moments in the film, but in all the various elements in the piece just never seem to mesh well enough to present a movie with a coherent and consistent tone. With more melancholy moments than laughs, you might leave this one feeling a bit confused.