Switch

Stormy Daniels displays her rom-com expertise in "Switch", almost overcoming the inherent issues involved in trotting out that old canard, folks switching their bodies, resulting in slapstick comedy and endless mistaken conclusions.

It is worth reviewing briefly the history of what has become a lame premise. For film buffs, Hal Roach's "Turnabout" from the popular Thorne Smith novel and starring Carole Landis set the standard for movies to later turn on this sex-switch gimmick. Most subsequently failed even when promising, take Blake Edwards' "Switch" (with Ellen Barkin working up plenty of flop sweat) a useful example. Many other variations have been briefly popular, such as the old guy and young kid (Dudley Moore comes to mind) trade-off, or even Disney's mom & daughter versions. Perhaps the worst is a brand-new XXX stinker in which two buddies (Xander Corvus & Chad White) trade places, also titled "The Switch". Use of the identical title over & over betrays a creative vacuum.

For this one it's Stormy and Michael Vegas who exchange bodies: they're a happily married couple, and the switch causes complications that work well both comedically and dramatically.

Suspicion of infidelity is the key plot element in Stormy's script, and she makes the revelations, changes of heart, and later reveals all quite credible. Both actors are quite peppy and deliver their dialog well, and I was quite grateful that neither overacts to the extent found in their mainstream counterparts (see Barkin above) caught in the same type of situations.

Dani Daniels does an excellent job as Vegas's self-serving boss, inevitably having a lesbian scene with Stormy (who's still inhabited by Vegas's spirit). Christie Stevens, who I'd only seen in gonzo crap or even worse, Wynorski/Olen Ray soft-core, is delightful given a real role as Stormy's younger sister.

The fact that it plays like a real film is another feather in Stormy's cap, though ultimately she cannot escape the "seen that before" tedium of recycling such used material. Porn industry body giving this four nominations for excellence is beyond ridiculous - apparently there weren't enough "parodies" to salute for greatness. I just looked at the laundry list of hundreds of "winners" for that year -what an embarrassing joke.