Because of the movie's title, I feel obligated to get this out of the way first. This could have been a great movie on its own (well, not great but entertaining for kids) but someone had to bring "Family Matters" into it. One of the actresses from that show is a producer and appears briefly (she was Laura but those who remember Laura will probably be disappointed). Her mom from that show, Jo Marie Payton, does a great job in a brief role as a grandmother to bickering kids. I find the whole story of the grandmother telling misbehaving kids a story to be pointless, even if I really liked the grandmother in her brief appearance. I liked "Family Matters" as much as anyone, mainly because of Urkel, but let's face it. The movie stands on its own without the connection to the show, and it is well known Jaleel White would hate having to be Urkel again. And Aiden is sort of an Urkel, but far from being that appealing.
But I really enjoyed the story, and the movie should have been called "Merry Switchmas", to use a phrase Alternis did. Some people would say a movie like this doesn't require use of the brain, but this movie is a real challenge. You have to keep up with who is in what body, and laugh at how each kid can't be quite convincing as the person whose body he or she occupies. And yet all three actors do a good job of trying. And since no one can know about the body switch, that just makes it funnier. Aiden goes through a real transformation from nerdy kid to more assertive. Doesn't help him much with his bully, but his sister's performance is quite good. Less of an Urkel than earlier, but he was appealing in his way when he was himself. It's worse for the popular sports star who is really the nerd who, while he can't play, loves being the center of attention. The sister maybe has the worst time, as he is really the popular good-looking guy and has to watch "his" brother do so well except at sports. And yet she is impressing everyone by her previously unknown sports talent.
The kids all learn important lessons about getting along and about each other as they must work together before they can be switched back.
Stephen Fisher is quite a character, resembling a Santa's elf with pointy ears. He's not a bumbling idiot exactly, but he can't seem to do some things right.
Tamieka Chavis is the real standout actor here. She thinks so highly of herself, even if she is not the ideal woman. What a personality!
Is it family friendly? It had better be, since only kids could possibly think this is any good. Or kids who never grew up. A TV-G rating was shown on screen. Let's say the jokes would go over kids' heads. Emily has her period, but this is not explicitly stated. Tracie tells her potential date Curtis she will be on Santa's naughty list, and those of us who are older will probably understand that in a different way. There are a few other jokes like this, and one song not about pirates has the word "booty". Tracie's drawing of a Christmas tree suggests something not so innocent. Emily's behavior toward her best friend Vanessa suggests she would like to be more than friends, but of course the viewer knows that's really the guy who wants to date her struggling with his situation. A man and a woman are living together despite not being married and they are shown in bed together. On the other hand, one reference to the real meaning of the holiday, other than song lyrics, is shown. A spectator at the basketball game wears a shirt saying "Christ is Christmas".
I mentioned music. The term should not be used for most of the absolute noise that I guess is inevitable in a movie where many of the characters are black teenagers, especially at a dance. But even the more adult sounding material was not my taste. There was an atrocious version of "Silent Night" which sounded straight out a horror movie, but at least it didn't last long. "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from "The Nutcracker" gets mixed with rap and a song from my "Jack and the Beanstalk" LP that has been used in commercials. And some of the songs have Christmas lyrics but in my opinion that doesn't make them Christmas songs. At least there was pleasant background music.
Regardless of the music that accompanies it, the dancing in this movie is great. Several of the teens and even Aiden are really good. And so are the cheerleaders and some dancers in Christmas costumes at the basketball game.
The exterior shots of Washington, D. C. with the opening credits are great. It's a beautiful city. But where is the movie within the movie actually set? The Washington footage seems to be longer than the part of the movie apparently set there.
Whether this is any good, I guess, is based on what the individual likes. I'm pretty sure those looking for Oscar-worthy material won't be impressed. But it's a fun movie with valuable lessons, and that's what's important.
