The Changeover Quick View Beware of the Stamp! Grade: C+
Source: IMDB
The Changeover tells a story about a woman named Laura (Erana James) whom father has died as she takes full responsibility of taking care of her little brother Jacko (Benji Purchase). Jacko on a random day has been acquainted by an elderly man Carmody (Timothy Spall), whom really likes Jacko and has a bunch of dolls in a storage unit... Not creepy at all whatsoever. One afternoon Carmody stamped Jacko’s hand, in what was suppose to be a friendly butterfly stamp, turned into a magical stamp with the mans face on it. Jacko now feels ill and Carmody now controls him, due to the fact he stamped his hand. Laura must try and stop Carmody from taking over Jacko’s soul... What a plot I do say. The films weird fantasy nature reminds me of a film earlier this year The Kid Who Would Be King, difference is The Kid Who Would Be King is aimed for children while the other is for a mature audience. I prefer The Kid Who Would Be King because even though the film was completely goofy, it fits the demographic well and is a lot of fun to watch. The Changeover would likely turn off adults, by it’s weird and sometimes goofy nature... But The Changeover isn’t bad at all. Let’s start with some positives. The Cinematography was rather nice, there is some nice shots in this film that really worked. The cast in this film all in all was pretty good. Erana James played a pretty good performance as Laura, a strong protagonist I do say so myself, I was rooting for her the entire time. I really liked Timothy Spall as the antagonist of the film, a solid creepy old wizard that wanted to feed off children. I found the story itself to be not bad, I was engaged with the film the entire time. Sure it maybe goofy and bizarre at times, but I like the whole original concept. A wizard/larva whatever the hell his title is taking control of children by stamping their hands with a magic stamp... It sounds goofy on paper, but how they execute it was actually kind of cool. I like how Laura has a strong connection with her little brother, as she would die for the little kid because that’s all that was left of her father. So I do have my complaints with this film. I kind of don’t understand how Laura became who she is, by her vision at times seeing colors of blue. It’s explained that she became this way, by encountering an earth quake... Huh? I found the third act, dealing with Laura becoming a witch to make no sense whatsoever. I don’t find this a spoiler... But how does Laura become a witch, by just going underwater in a pool?! How does that work? The goofy side of this film can get too goofy, to the point where your kind of laughing unintentionally at it. Like anytime this film paid any focus on Jacko’s stuffed monkey, as a serious element to the films story... Like come on, is anyone going to take that seriously? Be honest you were laughing too. I also found the whole “Invited me in” or “You let me in” element of the story goofy as well, especially towards the end of the second act. Though this film has a original concept, can’t help to think this film borrowed some ideas for inspiration. Films like Insidious, Twilight, Pay the Ghost (LMFAO Pay the Ghost)... Especially the Twilight comparison was really noticeable, due to Laura having a love interest with a mythical guy. Did we really needed Laura to have a love interest? I rather have her be a strong independent woman, without needing her to be attracted to a man, as the film clearly made me her a strong independent woman in the beginning. You’re probably wondering what gave me some sort of an idea to watch this film? There was this review on the Roger Ebert website, claiming this film is 4 out of 4 stars... Of course when you look at that rating, you seem curious about it. This film is nowhere near a 4 star caliber film, however it’s a passable watch. Overall, The Changeover is just fine. If you’re open to new ideas, then this film could work for you as a recommendation, not a strong recommendation but just something you can watch and go, “Ah... Not bad, not bad.” -Mitch Smietana