"Switch: The Best Gift of Life" (A Memo-style Review)

*Written in December 2023

While the premise of lives being swapped is a common trope, this film was a work with a well-crafted plot.

Park Gang, a national star, lived in a luxury high-rise apartment and drove expensive foreign cars.
However, he had personality issues; he would pursue co-starring actresses one after another only to treat them poorly, and he maintained an arrogant attitude toward the staff he worked with, giving him a terrible reputation throughout the industry.
The person who always supported Park was Jo Yoon, his best friend and manager, with whom he had studied acting in a small theater troupe.
Jo had once made a name for himself as an actor in reenactment dramas, but he gave up on acting early for the sake of his family and transitioned into being Park's manager.

One Christmas Eve, Park invites Jo to a restaurant they often frequented when they were younger.
Although Jo's family is waiting for him, he stays with Park for a little while, and Park tells him that So-hyun, whom he used to date, has returned to the country and is holding a solo exhibition.
The two leave the restaurant, and Park gets into a taxi to go home.
And in that taxi, he has a mysterious experience.

When Park wakes up, there are two children in front of him.
So-hyun, who should have broken up with him, is now his wife, and they are living as a family of four in a rented house in the suburbs.
Thinking it is a nightmare, Park goes to the high-rise apartment where he used to live, but someone else is living there.
Even though he was supposed to be a national star, no one knows who he is.
Park could not understand what had happened, but he had no choice but to accept his current situation.

Park's current job is as an actor in reenactment dramas.
In parallel, he also performs with a small theater troupe.
Naturally, his income is low.
So-hyun runs a local art class.
And it is Jo who has become the national star.
Park tries his best to perform as a reenactment actor, but he quits immediately because he is not allowed to be particular about his acting.
Afterward, he goes to an audition through Jo's connections, but the director tells him that he wanted to work with Jo, not Park.
Park is shocked, but upon learning that So-hyun has started working part-time at a supermarket in addition to her art class, he gives up on acting and decides to take the manager job that Jo had offered him.
Park and Jo have completely swapped places from before the taxi ride.

However, from that point on, Park worked hard for his family.
He handles his managerial duties by referencing Jo's former work style, and when a supporting actor fails to show up, he accurately performs the role as a substitute, earning a good reputation.
Work as an actor also starts coming in little by little, but this time, he uses his former self as an actor as a cautionary tale, showing consideration for the staff and further enhancing his reputation.

As I wrote at the beginning, the premise is quite common.
However, the plot is solid, and the screenplay is good.
Park, who lived a celebrity life in the first world, only thinks about escaping his commoner life immediately after arriving in the different world, but he gradually changes his mind as he is surrounded by a wife who loves him brightly and adorable children.
That process is heartwarming to watch.

It is a work that depicts one year starting from Christmas, and I thought it was a perfect film for the Christmas season.

129. Switch: The Best Gift of Life

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