Switch is a 1991 American fantasy comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards. Based on George Axelrod's 1959 play Goodbye Charlie (and
the 1964 film of the same title), the film stars Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, JoBeth Williams, and Lorraine Bracco. Ad man Steve Brooks — a promiscuous misogynist and quintessential chauvinist — is invited to
a deadly surprise party by three former lovers. Margo, Liz and Felicia try to
drown him in the hot tub. When that fails, Margo shoots him point blank in the
chest, killing him. In Purgatory, God (communicating through male and female
voices) gives Steve one chance at redemption. He is returned to Earth, alive,
and told that he must find a soulmate who truly loves him. If he fails, he will
go to Hell. The Devil convinces God to give Steve a challenge, taking his
infamous charm into account, and Steve is transformed into a beautiful woman
named Amanda. Amanda goes to Margo, convinces her of her real identity as Steve
and persuades her to give her lessons in being a woman. Telling everyone that
Steve has run off and that she is his half-sister, Amanda moves into Steve's
life, convincing his boss at the advertising agency, Arnold Friedkin, to give
her Steve's job, which partly involves getting a plum account with lesbian cosmetics magnate Sheila Faxton. Amanda tries to
use her new female body as a weapon in her campaign to get the account and to
win a woman's love. Sheila responds, but Amanda balks on following through on
the seduction. Margo reminds her that homophobia was one of the traits that
made Steve so hateful. Amanda breaks up with Sheila, telling her that the
romance was contrived to get her as a client. The agency keeps the account but
Sheila is furious at Amanda. When Amanda prays to God for help, the Devil
offers her a job with his operation. She refuses and calls all the names in
Steve's address book, hoping to find a woman who has something kind to say
about him. Instead she discovers just how hated Steve is, and how deeply she as
him damaged countless women. In the course of the film, Amanda also begins to
understand how women live and resents the way men — including herself as Steve
— perversely treat them. Steve's best friend, Walter Stone, has been attracted to
Amanda from their first meeting, and when despair sends her on a bender, he
joins her. They get drunk together, and after Amanda convinces Walter that she
is Steve. One night after a barfight and both being intoxicated, they have sex.
In the morning, Amanda has no memory of the encounter and accuses Walter of
raping her while she was passed out — the same thing Steve himself would have
done. Walter is astonished, and insists that Amanda was not only awake but an
enthusiastic participant. Amanda recognizes the difference between the man she
used to be as Steve and the far better man that Walter iMeanwhile, Steve's body
has been found in the river, and Margo plants her gun in Amanda's sofa, framing
her for the crime. Amanda is found unfit for trial. In the mental hospital, she
learns that she is pregnant with Walter's child. There are dangerous
complications, but she insists on carrying the baby to term. Walter proposes,
and Amanda reluctantly accepts: they are married. Months pass, and with Walter
beside her, Amanda gives birth to a baby girl. The newborn infant gazes at her
mother with love, and Amanda dies, having earned a place in Heaven.Upon
arriving in Heaven, Amanda must decide whether to spend eternity as a male or a
female angel. She finds the decision difficult, especially after, five years
later, she watches as Walter and their daughter bring flowers to her grave.
God, in their dual voices, reassures Amanda that she has all eternity to
decide.