The Hot Chick
I hate Rob Schneider.
Wow, that was a little harsh. I mean, I don’t hate the guy as I have never had the horror pleasure of meeting the man. He could be pleasantly lovely. How do I put this then? Oh, I mega loathe his work. While some of you out there may enjoy his bug eyed, silly, man child act in such films like Deuce Bigalow Male Gigalow or The Animal, I don’t. In fact, I believe the only reason I chose to become a critic/film expert is so I could purge the world of all his movies. And that is including his cameos in Adam Sandler movies because let’s face it, the only thing worse than Rob Schneider is when Adam Sandler forgets he can act better than putting on a man child voice. This all being said, though....
I bloody love The Hot Chick.
Much like the tiresome body swap movies like The Change Up and Freaky Friday (come on, Freaky Friday is legendary,) The Hot Chick follows the same routine. When Jessica Spencer steals a pair of cursed earrings from a voodoo shop and in turn gets one of them stolen by petty criminal Clive. However, the earrings magically cause the owners to swop bodies and Jessica wakes up in the body of a 30 year old man thief. In order to get back to her body, she must work with her friends, her enemies and discover herself in this outrageous comedy.
How Is It Bad?
All of the above.
The concept of “body swapping” should’ve ended with Freaky Friday. After all, it is usually the same thing; either host wishes for to go into another’s due to jealous or someone has to be taught to walk in an opponents shoes. A series of mishaps and enjoying the perks, our two characters find that they were happy being who they are all along or decide the other is just as good as they. Cue happy ending where they have changed for the better, end movie. Honestly, a chimp could have written it.
(.......this chimp.)
The jokes are mainly sloppy pokes at how different a girls and boys bodies are (and totally gross, eww.) Or fat jokes. Or fart jokes. Or the usual toilet humour your younger brother has been laughing at for the past ten minutes. There isn’t much clever wit or dry sarcasm, you certainly have to lower your brow. The acting is strained over convoluted plot points. The film gets more and more ridiculous and five minutes in any good film lover would be screaming at the television to make it stop.
Oh and there is also Anna Faris.
Why Is It Good?
Because it has charm. Rob Schneider does surprisingly well as Jessica trapped in a mans body and although he does it so clichéd he nearly said fetch, there is a likeable quality to his character. Rachel McAdams is her usual charming self as Clive in girls body and the supporting cast are real fun. While most jokes are heavy handed, there are some genuine funny moments including Clive discovering the wonders of being a girl (that being, having periods.) And there is a spin on the old classic. The characters had never met, there was no wish to be a disgusting criminal or a spoiled brat. And Clive doesn’t learn a lesson, so there is no reconciliation between the pair. Because at the heart of it, it’s Jessica trying so hard not to be a bitch to everyone she meets.
That’s the gist of it; The Hot Chick has heart. And I’m a sucker for it. There are many characters that are wholesome and loveable such as the chubby Hildenberg who finds love (yay) and her best friend April who falls in love with Jessica inside of Clive. And while it is sitting nice and comfortably in the To Kill a Mockingbird DVD case as tonot arouse suspicion, it has found a place in my catalogue of fun movies.
Mind you, I had had a few glasses of wine after I first watched it.
So my brows were certainly lowered.
TTFN
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