Going back to the original Freaky Friday from the 70s that starred Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster, Disney and other studios have done these body transference films. Absolutely no new ground was broken here with The Swap.

Gymnastic champion Peyton List and young hockey prospect Jacob Bertrand occupy different worlds in the high school social strata. She's got some fierce and jealous competition from the usual mean girls you find in these teen films who always get their's. Bertrand is a young hockey player trying to measure up to his coach father and his two older hockey playing brothers.

Those cellphones that fewer and fewer of us don't have, but that teens have found to be necessary like breathing in this day and age have a magic power and through them the body transference is accomplished. And they have to live with each other's lives.

Both List and Bertrand are stars of Magic Kingdom TV Teen series, Bunk'd and Kirby Buckets. It's always Disney policy to give its budding teen stars TV feature film exposure. The stars are good in their roles and they are supported by a cast of Canadian players.

The Swap is easy to take, but nothing new.

Ellie O'Brien (Peyton List) is a rhythmic gymnast. Schoolmate Jack Malloy (Jacob Bertrand) is a hockey player. Both face difficulties. She is losing her best friend to a rival. He is being bullied by a rival. On one particularly tough day, they both end up at the nurse's station. They text back and forth arguing the other has the easier life. Suddenly, they exchange bodies. They struggle to navigate each other's life.

This Disney movie is a standard body swap movie. It's not doing anything new. The bigger problem is that the standard thing isn't done that well either. The standard thing being that the kids get to play the opposite gender. The problem here is that the characters start at somewhat similar places with similar personalities. She's afraid to confront the social bully. He's scared to talk to a girl. After the body switch happens, the gender change is limited even when they try. The easiest move is for Ellie to dress like a boy which she never does. There is a cute moment when Jack wears a towel like a girl. There are small changes when this type of movie requires big moves. The body switching device is questionable anyways. I've seen Peyton in a couple of things. The two leads admirably soldier on but it's not enough. This is an inferior body switch movie.

I actually thought The Swap was great. I honestly thought it would just be okay but it was better than that. It's obviously not the best DCOM, but it's something that fills the gap of waiting for the big DCOM's. The whole idea of how they get switched is cliché but still different. I loved that they use the phones but makes them meaningful. The story is interesting and heartwarming from beginning to end. The acting from both Peyton List and Jacob Bertrand was not that bad. It shocked me at how well they each played their part. They each end up helping the other with their relationships. Jacob makes Peyton's character stronger and Peyton makes Jacob's show how he really feels. Overall I think it's worth a watch.