Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman Talk 'The Change-Up'
Ryan Reynolds called it the "worst wish ever." From the sounds of it, though, it may be an audience's dream come true.
Reynolds co-stars alongside buddy Jason Bateman in the upcoming body-switch comedy, "The Change-Up," with the pair splitting time as a slacker/lady's man wanna be actor and an overcommitted lawyer/father. The body-switch, obviously, is not a new concept, but Reynolds and Bateman like to emphasize the film's hard-R rating, and all the raunch that comes along with it.
"I don't think there's any point in making it any other way," Reynolds told HitFix in a recent interview. "The R rating is the reason that I'm here. [We] do all the things you wish you could have seen in those other movies. Also seeing these two guys, in their own way, take advantage of the situation. It's a hall pass. You get a day pass here, and what would you do with it? "
The conceit -- that the two old friends, with Reynolds initially as the party boy and Bateman the dad, have their bodies switched when lightening strikes while they're peeing in a fountain -- is a bit preposterous, though they readily admit that point. In fact, its casual disregard for reality and anxiousness to jump right into the meat of the comedy could be considered a good thing.
"We're assuming, we're hoping, based on the material and the concept they're going to go, 'These guys are going to switch bodies,'" Bateman explained. "So let's have them just piss in a magic fountain and we'll be done with it. Who cares? It's what happens after that that we have to earn, and [writers] Lucas and Moore did a great job with it."
What that great job entails is still a bit foggy -- the big comedy set pieces and blatant sexual situations are still under wraps. But Reynolds promises that it'll be worth the wait -- and the R rating.
"It goes all out. We don't pull a single punch in that regard," Reynolds said. "But it's not there for the sake of being there. It's there because there are all very real and scary things. If you were married for 16 years, and you got to be your buddy who's this wild, single guy, it sounds very appealing until you're in the lion's den. And then it's very scary."
This film isn't Reynolds' only big summer project -- he's also starring in a little comic book adaptation called "The Green Lantern," which allows him to explore an entirely different genre. That's all according to plan, he says.
"I'm really f**king lucky that I hit it late," he told Details in a recent interview. "None of this happened to me in my early twenties, so I didn't configure myself at an early age in the audience's mind as one guy."
As for Bateman, he goes raunchy again in the upcoming comedy, "Horrible Bosses," co-starring Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Anniston, Kevin Spacey and Colin Farrell.
For more on "The Change-Up," click over to HitFix.
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First Posted: 06/01/11 10:47 AM ET Updated: 08/01/11 06:12 AM ET