The Switch

Best friend. Surprise sperm donor. What can go wrong?

2010 film written by Allen Loeb, directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon, and starring Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, and Jeff Goldblum.

Kassie Larson and Wally Mars have been best friends since childhood. Kassie, after years of bad experiences in dating, has decided to become a single mother through artificial insemination, much to Wally's protests. Nevertheless, she invites him to the insemination party wherein he gets drunk, accidentally spills the collection vial, and decides to replace the sample with one of his own. He blacks out and wakes up with no memory of this. Kassie leaves town, seven years pass, Kassie returns with her son Sebastian, and Hilarity Ensues.

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Tropes used in The Switch include:

• Chekhov's Trait:
  • Early in the course of the movie, Wally is shown to moan when eating good food. Later, Sebastian is shown to do the same.
  • One surprisingly missed by the participants of the movie. Kassie and her sperm-donor have blue eyes and blonde hair. Sebastian has brown eyes and brown hair.
• Book Ends: Wally's voice-over and discussion regarding the "human race".
• Childhood Friend Romance: Kassie and Wally have been friends since childhood.
• Disposable Fiance: Averted. Roland seems like a genuinely nice guy who just has the bad luck to come up against a Hollywood Romance.
• Dogged Nice Guy: To some degree, Wally from the beginning of the movie on.
• Dueling Movies: Filmed and released at the same time as The Back-up Plan, also about artificial insemination and the complications of relationships with the sperm donor.
• Trailers Always Lie: At least some trailers for the film tried to push the idea that Jennifer Aniston was the lead character; she's certainly important but it's pretty obvious Jason Bateman is the real protagonist.
• Visual Pun: The sperm donor is made to wear a Horny Viking helmet during the insemination party.