CHRISTMAS TRADE
US, 2015, 99 minutes, Colour.
William Baldwin, Denise Richards, Michael Campion, Tom Arnold.
Directed by Joel Sousa.
This Christmas film is in the tradition of those stories where characters change, bodies incorporating the soul in character of their opposites. There was a British film in this vein in the 1940s, Vice Versa. The theme became rather more popular in the 1970s with such films as Freaky Friday, Like Father Like Son and in later decades a remake of Freaky Friday and 17 Again.
Father, Mitch (William Baldwin) and son, Robbie (Michael Campion) are still grieving for the death of wife and mother. There is a certain amount of tension, the father very busy at work, the son acting his age with some carry on. The early part of the film, of course, shows the two characters in the intensity of their personalities, readying audiences for the exchange.
The device for the exchanges is more than a little bit odd, a parcel at the door, unwrapping it and finding an old, rather scruffy Teddy bear. And, the exchange is awkward, because dad is at the wheel of the car and suddenly the boy, in his father’s form, has to drive.
Mitch is very popular at school where he leaves Robbie, especially with the mothers. However, he has a girlfriend at the office, Chloe (Denise Richards) who is more sensible. Of course, she is going to have a lot of sequences with Robbie looking like Mitch and having to cope with an adult relational situation. And this is even more the case at work where Mitch is in the middle of an important case, dominated by a harridan of a superior, also to organise a Christmas party where the main client will be present. Robbie/Mitch makes an absolute hash of the meetings, is helped by his secretary to remedy situations, gives up and gives orders for a kind of children’s party for the office celebration. The client, who has children of his own, feels rather delighted with the party, so all is well there.
On the other hand, Robbie/Mitch overcomes a number of bullies, finds one of the girls at school sympathetic and attractive, gives adult-sounding lectures to the bullies and others and, finally, performs well in the pageant.
While a lot of this has been seen before, this is a reasonable variation, Michael Campion being quite effective as the adult and William Baldwin, not an immediate choice for this kind of role, rather enjoying the comedy sides of it.
