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Switch
Directed by	Blake Edwards
Produced by	Tony Adams
Written by	Blake Edwards
Starring	Ellen Barkin Bruce Payne Jimmy Smits JoBeth Williams Lorraine Bracco Tony Roberts Perry King
Music by	Henry Mancini Don Grady
Cinematography	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	10 May, 1991
Running time	103 min.
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Switch is a 1991 film by Blake Edwards. Ellen Barkin plays a sexist, chauvinist man who is murdered and reincarnated as a beautiful woman.

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Gender bending is a favorite recurring theme in Hollywood movies and for director Blake Edwards (who also directed Victor, Victoria). Switch is a comment on the subject of gender roles; what one psychology of women textbook called "Gender Transgressions in the Movies.”

As the movie starts, we see Steve Brooks, (Perry King) a notorious lady's man who thinks he's God's gift to women. Three of these seriously disgruntled women gang up to murder him after seducing him into thinking that they want to have a four-way with him.

But now that Steve is dead, God isn't sure if Steve should go to Heaven or not. But Steve has one chance to redeem himself--find one woman who truly loves him for who he really is. Otherwise, he becomes the personal property of the Devil (Bruce Payne).

But there's a catch to all this. The Devil himself has an idea, a suggestion he talks over with the Higher Authorities (two voices, one male, one female). "Teach Steve a lesson, make it impossible for him to work his macho machinations on any more unsuspecting females." And how is this done? "Make him a woman."

Ellen Barkin as Amanda, Bruce Payne as the Devil from Switch

Steve, now Amanda (Ellen Barkin), gets to find out what it's like to be a woman. Steve has to learn to deal with makeup, high heels, décolletage, and panting, pawing macho males just like him.

It takes a while for Steve/Amanda to get the hang of being female. Sitting down with his/her legs spread wide open just like a guy is just one behavior the new Amanda has to unlearn.

But with all the comedy, there is a serious point: the device of a male being forced to see the perspective of a female allows the director to raise important questions about the treatment of women as sex objects and how that feels to women.

Meanwhile The Devil has a bet to win so he pops suddenly from time to time, leering and smiling, trying to tempt Steve/Amanda away from his/her soul-saving goal.

Although not a success at the box-office, this film was indirectly referenced numerous times throughout the long-running series Mystery Science Theater 3000. In the original television spots for the film, Jimmy Smits' name was announced in an unusual way: "Ellen Barkin. Switch. Jimmy Smits. Starts Friday." The writers of MST3K found it amusing that Smits' name was announced after the title and not announced as "also starring Jimmy Smits" or "with Jimmy Smits", only as "Jimmy Smits".^[1] Smits became a running gag on the series: in various episodes, a character of the show would say "Jimmy Smits" whenever the word "switch" was uttered or sometimes for seemingly no reason at all.

• Switch at the Internet Movie Database