Body switch movies are probably some of the most fun, unsung films to ever grace the silver screen. They are simple tales of people (usually humans)switching bodies, often to hilarious effect when they have to live the other person’s life. Then there’s the aspect of how are they going to switch back? And suddenly you have a genre of movies that borders on the fantastic.
Another aspect of these films is precisely how the switch happens. Sometimes the actors merely bump into one another. Other times they get something that serves as a conduit to make the switch happen. Then there’s those times (i.e.Mulholland Drive) where the actors become other people simply because that’s just what makes sense for the story that a particular director is telling.
It is the fantastical nature of these films, the idea that a body switch of comedic (and sometimes tragic) proportions can happen, that truly works in their favor. These movies don’t need to explain too much. They don’t need to depend on the exact nature of science. All they need to do is present a scenario where a body switch can happen, and if the acting and story are entertaining and engaging, generally the film will work overall.
This list does its best to see which body switch films are worth your time, and which ones are ultimately discardable. However, my taste is probably going to skew differently than some of your tastes. So the film that I think is the worst might be the best body switch film you’ve ever seen. To each their own, right? As you will see, this list more than most I have written, is mainly predicated on comparisons.
So sit back and enjoy our list of Body Swap Movies Ranked Best to Worst, which was compiled with a little help fromWikipedia. There’s a lot of gems on this list. There’s also a lot of oddness and films that might not be thought of as very good. As you read, hopefully you recall how much fun you had watching these movies and recalling if you found the body switch premise solid or merely palatable.
19Big (1988)
Is there a better switcheroo movie thanBig? We don’t think so. Josh (David Moscow) wants to be big as he’s tired of being told he can’t do things. So he goes to a carnival and makes a wish using a wish granting machine. Suddenly, Josh becomes big Josh (now played by the great Tom Hanks) and he’s got to navigate the grown up world he so desperately sought to enter. Filled with laughs and physical comedy,Big’s real heart is the fact that Josh’s ultimate goal is to return home and be with his family. Sure, there’s the classic moment of Hanks and Robert Loggia dancing out the song “Heart and Soul” on a large, electric piano. Or, one could site the awkward, funny scenes of Josh losing his virginity. You could even dissect how much this film recalls Peter Sellers in “Being There,” especially as we see Josh’s rise through the toy company he works for. Whatever your take on this film is,Bigis a truly special movie and the cream of thebody switchcrop.
18All of Me (1984)
Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin star in this body switch movie that is nothing if not a 1980s gem. This body switch premise couldn’t have been dreamed up in any other decade but the 1980s. Tomlin plays Edwina Cutwater. She is a dying millionaire who is planning to have her soul put into the body of a younger woman. Well, nothing goes as planned and her soul ends up in the body of her lawyer Roger Cobb (Steve Martin). As you may guess a lot of hijinks ensue especially on the man/woman front. I can recall the moment at the urinal scene like it was yesterday. Roger has just finished peeing and he needs Edwina (because she is now in control of his body) to shake the final pee droplets out of his ding-a-ling. I had never seen anything like this in my life! Sure,All of Meis filled with many other great scenes. However, this movie stands out because of it’s comedic trappings, surefire direction from comedy icon Carl Reiner, and of course the dead on performances from Martin and Tomlin.
17Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Having played the Joe Pendleton role inHeaven Can Waitin high school, this body switch movie has a very special place in my heart. That is not why I have it ranked so high on this list here. In this film, Warren Beatty plays a quarterback for the Rams who’s soul is taken from his body a bit too soon. So the angel that made this mistake decides to make things right by putting Pendleton’s soul in the body of a millionaire who was murdered. This is one of those rare body switch movies that doesn’t rely on some non-defined paranormal aspect. Rather it almost turns to the theological to explain how the whole body experience thing happens. This late 1970s film was not seen as one of the great movies from that decade. Rather it was seen as sort of a harbinger of the blockbusters to come from the 1980s. Whatever your feeling about this movie may be, and for the current young generation it might be a body switch film they just can’t relate to,Heaven Can Waitis as solid a body switch film as they come.
16Face/Off (1997)
In what has to be one of the most interesting body switch endeavors, legendary director John Woo legitimately takes the body switch concept places that it has never been before. Relentless FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) must go dangerously undercover to investigate the location of a lethal biological weapon planted by his arch rival, the sadistic terrorist-for-hire Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage). After undergoing a radical surgical procedure, Archer literally “borrows” Troy’s face and identity to carry out his mission. But things go awry when Troy, emerging from a coma, transforms into Archer and wreaks havoc upon his life, both at work and at home. What makesFace/Offso amazing is that Woo and Co. not only explain the body switch, it actually makes sense and is feasible in this movie. Add to this thatFace/Offis filled with such intense and immense action sequences, and we get a body switch film that literally explodes the genre.
15Dream a Little Dream (1989)
This film is ranked as high as it is for a number of reasons. First of all, it was a very odd, surreal, dream fest that, years later, plays as an almost bold tale of body-switch oddness. Also,Dream A Little Dreamcame out at a time when Corey Feldman and Corey Haim were at their peak of their creative prowess. These two actors, believe it or not, were the hottest teen duo going. Things would sadly change for them after this film, but that doesn’t mean that all the changes were bad. In this film, Bobby Kellar (Corey Feldman) has a crush on Lainie Diamond (Meredith Salinger), girlfriend of school jerk Joel. Coleman (Jason Robards) is working on an experiment which will help him move into a place where Dreams are reality. When an accident occurs Coleman finds himself in Bobby’s body and can only contact Bobby in his dreams. Part of his wife’s mind has also ended up in Lainie. To bring his and his wife’s body back to reality, Coleman must agree to fix Bobby’s messed up life. Meanwhile, Dinger (Corey Haim) is simply left to hang out, chew the scenery, make jokes and help his buddy Bobby. As you can tell, this story is convoluted and didn’t really make the splash of say,The Lost Boys, but for what it is,Dream A Little Dreamis quite the bold body switch odyssey.
14Mulholland Drive (2001)
Let me start by saying (and this should come as no surprise to anybody who knows anything about the films of director David Lynch), this is not your parent’s body switch film. A bright-eyed young actress travels to Hollywood, only to be ensnared in a dark conspiracy involving a woman who was nearly murdered, and now has amnesia because of a car crash. Eventually, both women are pulled into a psychotic illusion involving a dangerous blue box, a director named Adam Kesher, and the mysterious night club Silencio. To try and explain this movie, or even when or how the body switch happens, would be an exercise in futility. More to the point,Mulholland Driveis more more psychological in its approach. The main characters in this film don’t have their body switch achieved in a way that makes a lot of sense. However, sense isn’t what Lynch is going for here. He wants to take us into the mindset of these characters to see how they deal with being somebody else. As a result,Mulholland Driveisn’t as fun as other body switch films but it isn’t trying to be. It really wants us to see what the people go through when they become somebody else.
13Freaky Friday (2003)
This update pretty much follows the first film. However, the original came out in 1976 and this one came out in 2003. So as you’re able to see there’s been a fair amount of updating going on. In this body switch extravaganza, Jamie Lee Curtis plays Tess Coleman. She is an overworked therapist who could use some therapy of her own. She switches bodies with her daughter Anna (Lindsay Lohan) and it is here that the freakiness begins. The odd thing about the 2003Freaky Fridayvs. the 1976Freaky Fridayis that the newer one is actually the better film. Jamie Lee Curtis is not only amazing in the role of a put upon mother who needs a break, but Lindsay Lohan really showed that when she wanted to she could be a movie star. She plays a young girl trying to figure out her world to perfection, and it’s probably because, well, she was a young girl trying to figure out her world. As abody swap movie, this movie is quite solid but it doesn’t really move the needle. The premise of how these two switch bodies is unique (it has to do with fortune cookies and an earthquake of all things!), but it just isn’t as plausible or as cool as it should be.
12Child’s Play (1988)
IsChild’s Playreally a body switch movie you ask? That depends on your definition of the term. It isn’t some sweet film where a mother and daughter don’t get along, they bump into each other, and suddenly they’ve completed a body switch across space and time. Here’s how it goes down, when serial killer Charles Lee Ray is mortally wounded in a police shoot-out, he uses a voodoo spell to transfer his soul into Chucky, a “Good Guys” doll. Young Andy (Alex Vincent) receives the doll as a birthday gift, and Chucky soon resumes his killing spree. However, Charles doesn’t want to be trapped in the body of a doll forever. His only escape would be to transfer into the first human he revealed his true identity to… which places Andy in mortal danger. You see what I mean? Nothing aboutChild’s Playis really that cute. Okay, the young Alex Vincent is quite cute but this film doesn’t have a traditional body switch happy ending. It isn’t like Andy and his mom reconcile and learn to respect each other’s lives. No, this film leaves a lot of bodies and blood in its wake and that is what really separates this body switch film from the others on this list.
11Turnabout (1940)
In this body switch movie (from 1940!) bickering husband and wife Tim and Sally Willows mutter a few angry words to a statue of Buddha and wind up living each other’s life. While maybe not the most ingenious premise for a body switch vehicle, this film gets a higher ranking than it might’ve simply because of when it was released. When you realize when this movie came out you have to give it a lot of credit. They were doing some amazing things with the whole body switch idea even way back when. This is a pretty heavy concept. Even though it has become the domain of light hearted family movies (for the most part), the idea of actually switching bodies with somebody is terrifying. Imagine being put in the body of somebody else? I can barely take care of myself let alone another person that’s NOT me.Turnaboutmay not be as well known as other movies on this list but that doesn’t make it any less formidable.
1013 Going on 30 (2004)
Jennifer Garnerstars in one of the best body switch movies in recent memory. Well, considering that there really weren’t too many body switch movies happening at the time,13 Going On 30pretty much gets a higher spot by proxy. Jenna, is picked on by her peers and classmates for being too eager to be liked and popular. Locked in a closet on her 13th birthday (after an embarrassing round of the “7 minutes in heaven” kissing game), she makes a wish to become “thirty, flirty and thriving”, and when she gets out of her entrapment, she discovers that she’s skipped ahead 17 years to become a sexy and successful advertising agency executive (Jennifer Garner).13 Going On 30really follows the storyline ofBig. Had it gone in a different direction it may have been higher on this list.13 Going On 30is fun, engaging and highly rewarding for viewers. That it isn’t wholly original is the only thing really working against it.
