They say imitation is the finest form of flattery – but when you outright piggyback off the success of another work of art in order to try and glean some of that acclaim, then there is a conversation to be had about the ethics of taking inspiration from other projects. Broadcast News is one of the most definitive and highly-acclaimed comedies of its era, an objective fact that has been embraced by audiences over the past decades, making it one of the most popular comedies of the past quarter of a century. Unfortunately, another film was made to be something of a competitor, in the form of Switching Channels, in which screenwriter Jonathan Reynolds enlists the help of director Ted Kotcheff (who is reliable but not all that interesting as a filmmaker) to adapt the play The Front Page, which was most famously made as the screwball classic His Girl Friday several decades earlier. Both are well-regarded texts that focus on the world of news reporters, drawing out many hilarious scenarios that happen when one mixes business with pleasure, and how it can have unintentional consequences that are insightful and funny when portrayed well. Switching Channels is not a good film – it is serviceable in certain areas, but these aren’t nearly good enough to justify some of the more peculiar decisions made in its creation, and it ultimately falls flat in every way, which is not the ideal scenario for a film that had this much potential.

Here we are dealing with a film that is not only failing as an adaptation of a classic play, but also pales in comparison to the very film that it was trying to imitate. The fact remains that we’ve seen countless examples of films made to parrot the success of other works over time, so what Switching Channels is doing is far from a new practice – the problem is that, at its heart, there are some fundamental aspects missing from this film that made previous works so successful. Primarily, this film doesn’t know what it wants to be in terms of genre – not many films can so effortlessly be a combination of media satire and endearing romantic comedy, and the attempt to do so here only highlights the deep flaws that are scattered throughout the film. It’s simply not funny enough to justify several of these polarizing flights of fancy, as well as lacking a sufficient amount of heart that would somehow account for the romantic elements. On nearly every level, Switching Channels is a conceptual nightmare, since it feels like it is struggling to find its voice, which should not have been so difficult, especially when all it needed to be was a reimagining of a classic text, brought to a more modern space (thus changing the setting of the film from a newspaper to a cable news network – considering CNN and its peers was still relatively new, this was a film that had a grasp on the collective cultural pulse at the time), and it ultimately aimed far too high than could be reasonably understood, and didn’t do nearly enough to warrant enough of our time, since there was very little here that was all that valuable in the first place.

However, all hope is not lost, since Switching Channels does have some potential, particularly in the two lead actors who sit at the heart of the film. Both Kathleen Turner and Burt Reynolds were doing very good work here, almost to the point where it’s unfortunate that their dedication was wasted on such a minor effort, since they’re both very engaging and capable of drawing out a lot of detail from otherwise thinly-constructed characters. On a purely theoretical level, the decision to cast two of the biggest stars of their generation in roles previously occupied by Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell was a smart decision, and this is not wasted on the actors, who commit fully to these roles, to the point where it becomes inexplicable that the film that surrounds them is so middling. They may not be the best match in theory (especially since it has been well-documented that they were constantly bickering, developing a disdain for one another that would last decades), but considering their stature within the industry, it’s not surprising that they were courted for the roles – Reynolds was one of the biggest stars of the era, and Turner was steadily growing as someone who was embraced by both critics and audiences, a versatile actress with an impressive body of work and incredible set of talents that made her an instant icon. They both work to elevate the material, and while these characters are not challenging enough to actually warrant too much attention, there’s a lot of detail in these performances that feel very much lived-in, much more than this otherwise misguided film may have deserved.

If we look at Switching Channels as a product of its time (rather than solely comparing it to other works, whether those from which it is adapted or those that loosely inspired it), we can find that it is a relatively entertaining film, and as far as romantic comedies go, it has some potential. We often have to keep reminding ourselves to not take this so seriously – the politics at the heart of the film would be seen as vaguely dangerous should someone spare even a moment’s thought to the implications aroused by the narrative. Mercifully, there is enough triviality to the film that we don’t need to dwell on its unfortunate approach to looking at politics (which essentially comes down to the fact that there is supposedly a complete lack of ethics in the world of political contention, which is not untrue, but feels shoehorned into a film that didn’t need to try and make such bold statements, especially when it didn’t have the ability to do it in a nuanced way), and we can instead simply enjoy the charming humour that occurs in between these larger attempts to add nuance to something that really didn’t need it. One aspect of Switching Channels that is rarely spoken about is how it is ahead of its time, albeit unintentionally – the technology used in the film was groundbreaking at the time, and set a foundation for the future, with portable computers and 24-hour news cycles being revolutionary for the 1980s, and would only continue to be consolidated into our culture as time progressed. This is where the film actually shows some promise – so it’s hardly a surprise that these elements are the ones that aren’t highlighted, but instead act as supplementary components of a film that chooses to date itself with misguided tactics and outdated ideas that prevent it from being all that interesting.

If there is any positive quality about Switching Channels outside of the specific work put in by the actors to elevate the material, it would be that it is a great example of one film reminding us of the virtue of others. It’s doubtful that anyone can watch this film and not feel the urge to immediately follow it up with something like Broadcast News, a far more complex and captivating film that actually somehow manages to work with a range of compelling themes in a way that ties up all loose ends, creating a memorable media satire that is far more interesting than anything being done here. There’s a purpose to everything, and Switching Channels being remembered less for its actual content, and more for the feud that developed between the two stars (and would last decades, with one of Reynolds’ final public appearances including yet another assertion that he was not particularly fond of Turner) seems appropriate, since it is by far the most memorable aspect of this film’s production, much more than anything we see on screen. Its an unfortunately unconvincing film that doesn’t do anything good enough to earn our respect or admiration, and while it is not a total disaster (since it is far too dedicated to adhering to the well-taut rules of the romantic comedy to deviate in a way that could signal much chance for failure), it’s just not interesting enough – both as a satire and a broader comedy – to earn much attention. Funny to an extent, but obscured by a range of issues that are difficult to overcome, Switching Channels is not a very good film, barely passing the threshold of being entertaining, requiring us to temper our expectations and simply rely on the desire to use this as a platform to seek better films.