Date and Switch

In this exuberant comedy, lifelong friends Michael (Nicholas Braun) and Matty (Hunter Cope) have high hopes for getting laid at their upcoming prom, but then Matty confesses that he's gay, or, as he puts it, "a gay dude." Michael isn't appalled, but he is surprised. "You're all out of shape and shit," he exclaims, and indeed, one of the charms of this smart, entertaining movie is that Matty is a bit lumpy and fine with it, while Michael is a scrawny geek who can't talk to girls. Director Chris Nelson and screenwriter Alan Yang let the natural chemistry between Braun and Cope dictate the tone, which is serious when it needs to be, but never for long. Whether it's romping naked in a gay bar bubble pit, or rehearsing their TV theme song cover band, Michael and Matty remain believably, goofily young. Yang is a producer and writer for Parks and Recreation, which surely accounts for the presence of comedy vets such as Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, as well as a loving assortment of oddball clerks and bar patrons who are there simply to be funny. Date and Switch isn't a gay movie. It's a zippy, happy, buddy flick.