IMDb

Sally
I grew up watching reruns of Saturday Night Live, really coming to love the early 1990s cast. Adam Sandler, Tim Meadows, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, David Spade… they were all great. But Rob Schneider? He never seemed to be operating on the same level as everyone else, though he performed admirably.

For this reason Schneider’s film career always perplexed me. He always felt like the weak link during his SNL days, so it never made sense why he was considered leading man material even for a brief moment. Of course, a skimming of his filmography shows that most of his career has consisted of supporting roles, and a good chunk of those in Adam Sandler movies. Maybe his career isn’t that perplexing after all.

I’ll admit that I enjoyed Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. It was the good type of stupid-funny. The Hot Chick is stupid, with only momentary flashes of funny. (Of course, this blows The Animal out of the water, but that was an incredibly low bar to clear.) The premise is far from original– it’s a classic body switching comedy– but should still promise some laughs. I hardly laughed at all when watching this, and when I did it was usually at Anna Faris’ character. Most of the good jokes are in the first 15 minutes or so, just after Schneider and Rachel McAdams unknowingly switch bodies. It’s hardly worth watching after that.

Rating: D-

Ben
The most impressive thing about The Hot Chick is that this was Rachel McAdams SCREEN debut. Not film debut, screen debut. You go and look at most actors IMDB pages and before their breakout role, you will usually find it littered with bit parts in films or television work. Even Zac Efron had a small role on the criminally cancelled-too-soon television show Firefly, but this was McAdams very first role. And she’s basically third lead to Rob Schneider and Anna Faris. That impresses me more than anything I can say about this horrible film.

McAdams stars as teen queen Jessica, who simply must have an exotic pair of earrings she finds at a thrift store during a shopping adventure with her besty April (Faris). Later, a sleazy criminal (Schneider) robs them and gets one of the earrings as part of his loot. Turns out the jewellery is enchanted and if two people wear the earing at the same time, they will swap bodies. Guess what happens!! Jessica ends up in Schneider’s body and he gets hers. Rob Schneider must then convince April and her dreamy boyfriend (Matthew Lawrence) who she really is and somehow find a way to switch back, if they even can.

This is a stupid movie. I’m not sure why I expected anything else, but it is really dumb. Faris is better than this and so is McAdams. The only person who fits right in is Rob Schneider who I expect to be this crude and unfunny. There are some funny moments, but they are few and far between. Most of the big laughs come when Schneider and McAdams first switch bodies and discover all the quirks of the opposite sex. The few laughs that are on hand here are not worth sticking around for the rest of the film. If you want to watch McAdams, stick to Mean Girls. If you want to watch Schneider, this is probably just what you’re after, but even the ridiculous Deuce Bigalow was funnier than this.

Rating: D- (The only thing saving this film from an F is that I’m just so impressed that this is Rachel McAdams screen debut.)