Grier, Fox Can’t Quite Save Shallow ‘Switch’

Sunday’s “Wonderful World of Disney’s” made-for-TV movie, “A Saintly Switch,” is shallow, obvious and corny--but David Alan Grier, playing a bumptious NFL quarterback who magically trades places with his refined wife, scores laughs.

Grier’s reaction to waking up one morning as a woman in a man’s body is almost worth the watch, and so are some of Vivica A. Fox’s comic moments, most notably during her husband-turned-wife’s first visit to the gynecologist.

You’ll have to sit through a long cardboard setup first, however, and even a fantasy plot needs at least a kernel of credibility, missing here.

Not even “The Last Picture Show’s” Peter Bogdanovich, who inexplicably directs, managed to add believable weight to this trifle.

The husband-and-wife switch happens after mildly bickering couple Dan (Grier) and Sara (Fox) move into an old house in New Orlean’s French Quarter, previously owned by a sorceress, according to wholesome neighborhood mystic Fanny (Rue McClanahan).

Dan and Sara’s cranky kids (Shadia Simmons and Scott Owen Cumberbatch), fearing that their parents’ low-key arguing means divorce is in the offing, try to prevent it when they discover the sorceress’ magic potions and cast a spell that goes awry.

To buy Grier, the clowning “In Living Color” star, as a famous pro football player is a stretch. And despite Grier’s initial laugh-out-loud mugging, it’s a bigger stretch to believe that Dan wouldn’t be kicked off his team--or sent for therapy--when he minces around the football field, cries when he’s tackled, undresses in a closet and forgets the rudiments of play.

And, when Sara-as-Dan convinces the tough coach to adopt a more nurturing approach, it’s a foregone conclusion that Dan-as-Sara’s walk on the stereotypical mild side will make him a better dad and husband when it’s over.

* ‘A Saintly Switch” airs Sunday at 7 p.m. on ABC. The network has rated it TV-G.