Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Date and Switch Blu-ray Movie Review

It's never a good sign when the title is the cleverest thing about the film.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 13, 2014

It had to happen sometime: in the seemingly endless litany of rom-coms, bromances, coming of age films and “lets lose our virginity together” outings, someone somewhere was ultimately going to figure out that there was a segment of the population not being served by these frequently tiresome and repetitive films: namely, gay folks. And so we have Date and Switch, an entry that is somewhat less raunchy than other films like, say, American Pie, but nowhere near as insightful as, say, The Spectacular Now, The Way Way Back or The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is a “high concept” reworking of a pretty low concept formula, specifically two high school buddies making a pact to “lose it” before prom, or at least at prom, a vow which is thrown for a loop when one of them comes out of the closet. What's especially odd about this potentially interesting material is that the creative crew chooses to focus more on the straight guy than on the newly out gay guy, something that would seem to suggest that for all the hip and happening quotient of the premise, Date and Switch is resolutely old school when you get right down to it.

Date and Switch begins in a completely traditional manner, introducing lifelong best buddies Matty (Hunter Cope) and Michael (Nicolas Braun), who are embarking on that rite of passage marking the putative end of childhood and beginning of something approaching adulthood, their senior year in high school. Both of them have their share of issues, including trying to come to terms with girlfriends who aren’t working out. So far, Date and Switch seems interchangeable with any number of similarly themed coming of age stories, but wrtier Alan Yang soon reveals the film’s ostensible divergence from tradition when Matty, in attempting to break up with Em (Dakota Johnson), finally comes to terms with the fact that he’s gay.

Perhaps surprisingly, and in one reassuring sign that younger generations (whether in real life or in films) have evolved in their understanding, Michael isn’t particularly thrown for a loop by the news. Matty, however, seems to understand that things can’t remain as they are, and while some may question his judgment (and/or the judgment of Yang’s writing), he soon finds a new relationship with an older gay man named Greg (Zach Gregger). The film indulges in a bit of needless melodrama when Michael ends up wanting to forge a relationship with Em, but is extremely conflicted about how that might be perceived.

While it’s perhaps laudable that everyone is so sanguine about Matty’s “new” identity, the fact that the film never really wants to engage in any meaningful dialogue about any of the issues it raises means that dramatically Date and Switch is largely inert. Matty’s coming out is almost a non-event, in the film, fodder for a bit of awkwardness, but certainly no big deal in the overall scheme of things. While there is some underlying tension in his relationship with Greg, one that ultimately spills out into the big Senior Prom finale, even this aspect is curiously undercooked, never eliciting much in the way of either pathos or, perhaps more importantly, laughs.

And in fact Date in Switch is almost entirely without guffaws, though it's occasionally gently humorous in an unambitious way. Yang attempts to invest some hipster humor here and there (the guys have a garage band that plays television music), but nothing ever really lands with any degree of immediacy or genuineness. In fact, the film plays much like a television outing itself, reducing life altering events down to the lowest common denominator, without much attempt to invest the characters with anything beyond surface emotions or reactions, and similarly never pushing the envelope in terms of where the unabashedly predictable plot ends up going. (It's notable that veterans of various sitcoms show up in various supporting roles, including Modern Family's Sarah Hyland and Will and Grace's Megan Mullaly.)

Date and Switch was one of a slew of so-called “micro budgeted” features that Lionsgate initiated to help give younger filmmakers a toehold in the industry. And truth be told, both Yang and director Chris Nelson show at least some promise in this outing. What would have helped was a bit more of a daring approach where, say, Matty’s decision to come out was fraught with at least a bit of drama rather than more or less uniform acceptance by everyone involved. There’s that famous “it gets easier” campaign that has laudably attempted to help younger gay people make it through what can be devastating transitional periods, but the fact is Date and Switch seems to suggest that aside from a couple of momentary detours it was never very hard to begin with.

Date and Switch Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Date and Switch is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.34:1. This is a perfectly fine if ultimately unremarkable presentation, in fact rather like the film itself. Colors are solid and accurate looking, and the image is well detailed and consistently sharp. Contrast is also strong throughout the presentation, but overall nothing ever really pops in any meaningful way. Date and Switch again may remind some people of a sitcom filmed in high definition—it's absolutely fine on all technical levels, but it's not going to impress anyone with its visual brilliance. The transfer offers no artifacting issues of any note.

Date and Switch Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Date and Switch's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix falls pretty much in line with the rest of the film's content and technical presentations, meaning it's professional and well crafted but not very inspirational. The film's source cues are well utilized in the surrounds, and some of the noisier crowd scenes, like the party where the guys spill the beans to their girlfriends or (later) the big prom finale, do allow for some nicely effective immersion. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and there are no issues of any kind to report on the track.

Date and Switch Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of Date and Switch (1080p; 11:01) is a brief but enjoyable enough EPK with interviews and scenes from the film.


• Prom: A Rite of Passage (1080p; 7:32) basically amounts to another EPK, only centered on the prom scene of the film this time.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 8:28)


• Audio Commentary with Director Chris Nelson and Writer Alan Yang. This is an enjoyable commentary that's fairly chatty, but filled with lots of anecdotal information. Yang reveals there are some autobiographical elements in his screenplay and Nelson talks about some of the kind of funny technical issues he encountered, like the disparate heights of some of the actors.

Date and Switch Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Date and Switch is a middling effort which will serve as an adequately entertaining time killer for those who are in an undemanding frame of mind. While both Nelson and Yang show some promise here, there's a too facile approach to this material to ever generate much emotional connection with the characters, and as a result things just kind of happen without any great impact. The technical merits here are very good but, like the film itself, ultimately unremarkable.