Family

DVD Review: Christmas Trade

A stressed out lawyer and his 11 year old son magically swap bodies in the lead up to Christmas, and have to learn to see the world through each other’s eyes.

The holiday season has arrived and this straight-to-DVD family film is proof positive that, the more things change through the year, the more things stay the same by the end.

christmastradedvdWhile body-swap films are a nice way to watch people learn to walk in each other’s shoes, there is an extra feel-good factor when the heartfelt Christmas spirit is evoked to tie it all together. Tissue, anyone?

William Baldwin stars as Mitch Taylor, a lawyer in a cut-throat firm who is overworked with little time for his 11 year old son, Robbie (Michael Campion). He can’t even find time to buy this year’s Christmas tree. The mysterious arrival of a gift-wrapped teddy bear on their doorstep changes things when the father and son magically swap bodies and are forced to wade through the complications of each other’s lives.

There’s some funny moments watching Baldwin navigate the corporate world as a child, and some strong messages of standing up for what’s right as Campion’s father figure is faced with the school bully. There’s nothing relly new in Christmas Trade. You’ve seen it all before, however writer and director Joel Souza has churned out an enjoyable watch that the kids will laugh along to and the  rest of the family can easily tolerate with a smile on their face.

Sadly, there’s a lot of missed opportunities for comedy. Given the lack of originality in the overall story idea anyway, there seems little reason not to have also rehashed some of the more expected scenes, such as the kid in the adult body discovering manhood and learning to drive, or the tired older guy rediscovering his youthful vigour. These ideas are touched on briefly but bypassed quickly for no apparent reason. There’s always new laughs to be found if the writing is good enough.

Christmas Trade carries with it Christmas tunes and a good old fashioned, feel good finale, as all good holiday tales should. It’s a harmless bit of fun that is quickly forgettable but a pleasant way to enact the message of the film – and that’s to spend time together as a family.

Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet

Rating out of 10:  6

Christmas Trade is out this month on DVD.

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